{"id":700572,"date":"2026-05-29T02:01:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T02:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/700572\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T02:01:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T02:01:14","slug":"photos-life-and-career-of-claude-lemieux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/700572\/","title":{"rendered":"Photos: Life and career of Claude Lemieux"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cIt was such a treat to see what he did with the torch and then, next thing you know, he\u2019s no longer part of life,\u201d former teammate Rick Green says of former Canadien Claude Lemieux, who had carried the torch into the Bell Centre prior to Game 3 of the National Hockey League Eastern Conference Final playoff against the Carolina Hurricanes in Montreal on Monday, May 25, 2026.  <\/p>\n<p>Lemieux was 20 when the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup in 1986 after he scored the winning goal in overtime of Game 7 at the Forum in a second-round series against the Hartford Whalers.<\/p>\n<p>It was one of four Stanley Cups Lemieux would win during his 21-year NHL career. He also won with the New Jersey Devils in 1995 \u2014 when he earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP \u2014 with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996 and with the Devils again in 2000.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/lemieux-and-hextall_303402289.jpg\" alt=\"Hockey goalie in 1987 stops a shot by Canadiens' Claude Lemieux.\" class=\"wp-image-100221919\"  \/>Flyers\u2019 Ron Hextall stops a shot from Canadiens\u2019 Claude Lemieux in November 1987. (George Bird\/Montreal Gazette)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/lemieux_95779400.jpg\" alt=\"Claude Lemieux of the New Jersey Devils and Scott Gomez celebrate with the Stanley Cup after winning the 2000 Stanley Cup Finals game against the Dallas Stars on June 10, 2000.\" class=\"wp-image-100221928\"  \/>Claude Lemieux (right) of the New Jersey Devils and Scott Gomez celebrate with the Stanley Cup after winning the 2000 Stanley Cup Finals game against the Dallas Stars on June 10, 2000, in Dallas. (Jim McIsaac\/Getty Images) Jim McIsaac \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/lemieux-golf_303402277.jpg\" alt=\"Claude Lemieux with a different kind of sticks \u2014 golf clubs in 1985.\" class=\"wp-image-100221922\"  \/>Claude Lemieux with different kind of sticks \u2014 golf clubs in 1985.(Pierre Obendrauf\/Montreal Gazette) Claude Lemieux \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3000\" height=\"1999\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6650910_285231302.jpg\" alt=\"Playing with the Anciens Canadiens, hockey legend Guy Lafleur (centre) smiles along with teammates Pierre Turgeon (left) and Claude Lemieux (right).\" class=\"wp-image-100221925\"  \/>Playing with the Anciens Canadiens, hockey legend Guy Lafleur (centre) smiles along with teammates Pierre Turgeon (left) and Claude Lemieux (right) during Lafleur\u2019s farewell game at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Dec. 5, 2010. (Dario Ayala\/Montreal Gazette)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/lemieux-celebration_303402285.jpg\" alt=\"Claude Lemieux, right, celebrates a goal with teammate Mats Naslund against the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup playoff semifinals in May 1986. \" class=\"wp-image-100221920\"  \/>Claude Lemieux, right, celebrates a goal with teammate Mats Naslund against the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup playoff semifinals in May 1986. (Gazette files)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0526-spt-habs_303404212.jpg\" alt=\"Former Canadien Claude Lemieux carries the torch into the Bell Centre.\" class=\"wp-image-100221924\"  \/>Former Canadien Claude Lemieux carries the torch into the Bell Centre prior to the Montreal vs. the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 of the National Hockey League Eastern Conference Final in Montreal on May 25, 2026. (John Mahoney \/ MONTREAL GAZETTE) John Mahoney \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/lemieux-closeup_303402281.jpg\" alt=\"Claude Lemieux close up with a ring on his finger.\" class=\"wp-image-100221872\"  \/>Claude Lemieux in December 1986. (Tedd Church\/Montreal Gazette)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2002\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/gettyimages-73014782_303403097.jpg\" alt=\"Claude Lemieux yells as he holds the Stanley Cup over his head.\" class=\"wp-image-100221875\"  \/>Canadiens\u2019 Claude Lemieux lifts the Stanley Cup over his head in celebration after winning the championship over the Calgary Flames on May 24, 1986. (Bruce Bennett\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/gettyimages-2277632696_303403099.jpg\" alt=\"Claude Lemieux holds up a torch at the Bell Centre, with cheering fans in the background.\" class=\"wp-image-100221885\"  \/>Claude Lemieux carries the torch in the opening ceremony of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Montreal Canadiens and the Carolina Hurricanes at the Bell Centre on May 25, 2026, in Montreal. (Photo by Matt Garies\/NHLI via Getty Images) Matt Garies \/ NHLI via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3000\" height=\"1999\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/gettyimages-95628329_303399383.jpg\" alt=\"Claude Lemieux holds up the Stanley Cup.\" class=\"wp-image-100221888\"  \/>Claude Lemieux of the New Jersey Devils celebrates with the Stanley Cup as he skates around the rink after winning the 2000 Stanley Cup Finals game against the Dallas Stars on June 10, 2000, in Dallas. (Jim McIsaac\/Getty Images) Jim McIsaac \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt was such a treat to see what he did with the torch and then, next thing you&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":700573,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-700572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=700572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/700573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=700572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=700572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=700572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}