Former Montreal Canadiens player Claude Lemieux at the NHL Eastern Conference final Stanley Cup playoff series in Montreal on Monday. Mr. Lemieux was found dead early Thursday morning in Lake Park, Fla.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
Claude Lemieux was the pebble in your shoe, the beach sand in your swimming trunks, the relentless ants and buzzing wasps at your picnic.
He was the hockey opponent who administered a cheap bit of dirty stickwork out of sight of the referee, and he was certain to embellish to draw the attention of officials however warranted your retaliatory response. As you sat stewing in the penalty box, he would then put the puck in your net.
As a teammate, all he did was help win championships.
Mr. Lemieux (pronounced luh-M’YEW), who has died suddenly at age 60, got his name on the Stanley Cup four times, once with the Montreal Canadiens (1986), once with the Colorado Avalanche (1996), and twice with the New Jersey Devils (1995, 2000). He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable playoff performer in 1995.
He won a league championship as a junior player in his native Quebec, as well as a world junior championship and a Canada Cup championship.
New Jersey Devils right wing Claude Lemieux holds the Conn Smythe Trophy in East Rutherford, N.J., in 1995.Bill Kostroun/The Associated Press
A chippy player whose verbal taunts caused rivals to lose their minds and discipline, he did whatever was necessary to win. He checked players dangerously from behind into the boards; he covered up when challenged to fight; he writhed on the ice in a thespian’s attempt to get the referee to penalize an opponent. Once, as he rolled around on the ice like a stricken European soccer player, his own coach, tired of such histrionics, refused to allow the trainer to attend to him.
All of it – the cheap shots, the turtling, the diving – violated hockey’s unwritten code of conduct. Coach Herb Brooks was said to have called him “a cancer.” His nickname was Pepé after the Looney Tunes cartoon character Pepé Le Pew (rhymes with Lemieux), a pesky French skunk whose outrageous behaviour annoys all around him.
Mr. Lemieux was among those handful of players about whom all fans had strong opinions.
When sports network TSN prepared a 2009 report on the “Top 10 Most Hated NHL Players of All Time,” Mr. Lemieux was ranked second behind Sean Avery, whose despicable acts were legendary.
The animosity Mr. Lemieux so often generated as a player dissipated on news of his death.
“His intensity and determination made him a player respected by his teammates and feared by his opponents,” said Patrick Roy, a goalie with whom Mr. Lemieux won two Stanley Cups.
Canadiens owner Geoff Molson called him “a relentless, courageous and tenacious player,” while National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman described him as “one of the greatest big-game players in hockey history.”
Toronto Maple Leafs Dmitry Yushkevich (right) punches New Jersey Devils’ Claude Lemieux as they battle in front of the net in Toronto in 2000.KEVIN FRAYER/CP
The untimely death brought tributes from former rivals, as well as from Quebec’s political leaders, including Premier Christine Fréchette, who mourned a “great loss.”
Mr. Lemieux was found dead early Thursday morning at a warehouse at the rear of his family‘s furniture showroom in Lake Park, Fla. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office reported the incident as an apparent suicide. Mr. Lemieux leaves his second wife, Deborah, as well as a daughter and three sons, including former NHL player Brendan Lemieux. A full list of survivors was not available.
Claude Percy Lemieux was born on July 16, 1965, in Buckingham, now part of Gatineau, in western Quebec’s Outaouais region. He grew up in Mont-Laurier, the second of four children. A younger brother, Jocelyn, also became an NHL player.
Claude pitched and played outfield in baseball and protected his quarterback on the offensive line in football but preferred the shinny he played on outdoor rinks.
Jocelyn, who played a style of hockey similar to that of his brother, once said they owed their feistiness to their mother, a practical jokester. When the boys were teenagers, they once turned the tables on her by deliberately setting off their home’s fire alarm as she slept.
The family lived on the father’s job as a truck driver. Their homemaker mother took odd jobs to cover the cost of hockey equipment, while Claude contributed by working as a gas-station attendant. The working-class family had added expenses caring for Claude’s severely disabled younger brother, Serge.
At 17, Claude scored 28 goals with the junior Trois-Rivières Draveurs.
The Montreal Canadiens claimed him in the second round, No. 26 overall, in the 1983 NHL entry draft. With the Verdun Junior Canadiens, he recorded 41- and 58-goal seasons. He scored an astonishing 23 goals in just 14 playoff games to help his team win the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League championship in 1985, earning the Guy Lafleur Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs.
Already known for volatile outbursts, the young player seemed to settle down after being named team captain. He knew he needed to be respected by his teammates.
“They won’t [respect me] if I’m always yelling at them. The thing is that I’m never satisfied. If I get a goal, I want two. If I get two, I want three.”
He eventually added 20 pounds to his muscular, 6-foot-1 frame, making him a formidable presence for unwary opponents at 226 pounds.
A poor training camp in 1985 – the coach complained he hovered outside the action waiting for loose pucks – led to his being sent to the farm team in Sherbrooke, Que. After sulking in disappointment, he regained his form with an even more aggressive style of play, including a willingness to battle in the corners. He scored just one goal and two assists in 10 games with the parent club in 1985-86, making what happened in the playoffs more astounding.
Assigned to a checking line with Brian Skrudland at centre and Mike McPhee on left wing, the right winger played like the cartoon Tasmanian Devil and scored like Rocket Richard. In 20 playoff games, he netted 10 goals, including two in overtime and two other game winners. Mr. Lemieux won a Stanley Cup in his rookie season as Montreal defeated the Calgary Flames four games to one.
New Jersey Devils’ Claude Lemieux during practice.BILL KOSTROUN/The Canadian Press
He also earned the wrath of the Flames. He was accused of biting Jim Peplinski (“I didn’t know they allowed cannibalism in the NHL,” he complained) and Calgary’s assistant coach said: “He may play in the league for five years, but he won’t have any teeth left.” In fact, he did lose a tooth to a Calgary stick in the finals.
With a scrunched-up Popeye face, a short temper, and a disdain for authority, Mr. Lemieux was often at odds with his own coaches. After several outbursts, he was traded to the Devils. “The divorce is final,” read a headline in La Presse.
The forward’s most egregious offence occurred during the 1996 playoffs, when he delivered a blindside check to Detroit forward Kris Draper, who needed surgery after suffering a fractured jaw, a broken nose and severe cuts. The NHL suspended Mr. Lemieux for two games in the finals, calling the hit “premeditated” and a “cheap shot.”
In a 21-season NHL career, Mr. Lemieux also skated for the Phoenix Coyotes, the Dallas Stars and the San Jose Sharks.
He played pro hockey in Switzerland, then retired for four seasons before trying a comeback in China, which led to a brief stint with the Sharks. He announced his second retirement as a player the month he turned 44.
In 1,215 NHL games, he scored 379 goals with 407 assists. He spent 1,777 minutes in the penalty box, about one period short of 30 complete games.
He scored 80 goals in 234 playoff games. All eight players who have scored more playoff goals have been enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Mr. Lemieux was named to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Hall of Fame in 2005.
In recent years, he worked as a player agent with 4Sports Hockey, an agency based in Switzerland, representing such NHL players as forward Timo Meier, defencemen Rasmus Andersson and Moritz Seider, and Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen, whom he saw defeat the Canadiens 3-2 in overtime in Game 3 of the conference finals on May 25.
Hours earlier in a pre-game ceremony, Mr. Lemieux served as honorary torchbearer, an honour performed previously in the playoffs by such Canadiens legends as Yvan Cournoyer, Serge Savard and Guy Carbonneau. The club has adopted a flaming torch as a symbol from John McCrae’s famous wartime memorial poem In Flanders Fields: “To you from failing hands we throw the torch/ Be yours to hold it high.” Those words have been displayed in the Canadiens’ dressing room since 1952. They are also to be found in French on the interior collar of the Canadiens sweater.
Wearing his trademark No. 32 in classic bleu, blanc et rouge, Mr. Lemieux marched slowly and purposefully along a red carpet lined on both sides by cheering fans into the Bell Centre while holding a flaming torch. The crowd erupted in a rapturous ovation as he paused briefly before raising right arm to hoist the torch into the air. Less than 72 hours later, Mr. Lemieux was dead.
You can find more obituaries from The Globe and Mail here.
To submit a memory about someone we have recently profiled on the Obituaries page, e-mail us at obit@globeandmail.com.