{"id":336422,"date":"2026-05-28T20:28:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T20:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/336422\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T20:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T20:28:08","slug":"claude-lemieux-who-made-nhl-comeback-with-san-jose-sharks-in-2008-09-dies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/336422\/","title":{"rendered":"Claude Lemieux, who made NHL comeback with San Jose Sharks in 2008-09, dies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Longtime forward Claude Lemieux, one of hockey\u2019s fiercest competitors and greatest agitators during a memorable 21-year NHL career<\/a> that included four Stanley Cup championships and a one-year stint in the San Jose Sharks organization, died unexpectedly<\/a> on Thursday. He was 60.<\/p>\n

The NHL Alumni Association announced Lemieux\u2019s death on Thursday morning on social media. <\/a>No cause was given, and it was not immediately known where Lemieux was at the time of his death.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe National Hockey League mourns the passing of Claude Lemieux, a four-time Stanley Cup champion and one of the greatest big-game Players in hockey history,\u201d NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe send our deepest condolences to Claude\u2019s wife, Deborah, and his four children, Brendan, Claudia, Michael, and Christopher.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lemieux played 1,197 regular-season<\/a> NHL games with six teams from 1983 to 2003, notably winning Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens in 1986, the New Jersey Devils in 1995 and 2000, and the Colorado Avalanche in 1996.<\/p>\n

Lemieux also won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP with the Devils in 1995 after he had 13 goals in 20 postseason games. He retired at the end of the 2003 playoffs as a member of the Dallas Stars.<\/p>\n

But after more than four seasons away from professional hockey, Lemieux made a comeback as a player during the 2008-09 season. Lemieux, then 43, shed 25 pounds and signed with the Worcester Sharks on Nov. 25, then was inked to a one-year, two-way deal by then-San Jose general manager Doug Wilson in late December.<\/p>\n

Lemieux played 23 games in Worcester before he was recalled by San Jose in mid-January.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more I was told this was impossible, the more I wanted it,\u201d Lemieux said after his first practice with the San Jose Sharks on Jan. 19, 2009. \u201cI still feel that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his Sharks debut on Jan. 20, 2009, Lemieux had three hits and three shots on goal in 7:08 of ice time.<\/p>\n

\"SanSan Jose Sharks\u2019 Claude Lemieux (32) takes to the ice on a shift change, during the first period against the Vancouver Canucks in an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009, in San Jose, Calif.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think that he\u2019ll provide the hockey club some energy and some grit, and that\u2019s all we\u2019re asking of him,\u201d then-Sharks coach Todd McLellan said of Lemieux.<\/p>\n

Lemieux still played with passion. In a feisty Sharks home game against Edmonton on Feb. 17, 2009,<\/a> Lemieux picked up a 10-minute misconduct and a five-minute fighting major after a scrap with Oilers defenseman Theo Peckham, who, at 22, was nearly half of Lemieux\u2019s age.<\/p>\n

Lemieux finished his career with 1,777 penalty minutes, to go with 786 points in 1,215 NHL regular-season games.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know what fourth lines did for the teams I won Cups with,\u201d Lemieux said in January of that year. \u201cThey were a big part of it. On any team, the fourth-line, third-line guys are going to have a big role, and I\u2019ll take pride in whatever role is going to be assigned to me. I\u2019m ready to go every shift.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a teammate with Sharks legends such as Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Joe Pavelski and current Sharks general manager Mike Grier, Lemieux had one assist in 18 regular-season games as the team went on to finish with the NHL\u2019s best record at 53-18-11 and win the Presidents\u2019 Trophy.<\/p>\n

That season, Lemieux was nominated by members of the Bay Area chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers\u2019 Association as the Sharks\u2019 candidate for the Bill Masterton Trophy, given to the player \u201cwho best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cVery deserving,\u201d McLellan said of Lemieux\u2019s selection. \u201cRemarkable what he has gone through to get to where he is. The fact that his mind is clear enough to do what he has done, and physically, he\u2019s a specimen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust to be nominated is very rewarding,\u201d Lemieux said.<\/p>\n

Lemieux played in one playoff game that season as the heavily favored Sharks faced the Anaheim Ducks in the first round. In Game 2, Lemieux, in what would be his last NHL game, had just over five minutes of ice time as the Sharks lost 3-2 to fall into a 2-0 hole in the series. The Ducks would go on to win in six games.<\/p>\n

Years after his playing career ended, Lemieux became an agent and represented several notable NHL players,<\/a> including former Sharks forwards Timo Meier, Fabian Zetterlund, and Melker Karlsson.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Lemieux was honored at Montreal\u2019s Bell Centre, carrying a ceremonial torch onto the ice before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final between the Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is a dark day for the Canadiens family and the entire hockey community,\u201d Canadiens team owner Geoff Molson said in a statement. \u201cI wish to express my most sincere and deepest condolences to Claude\u2019s family and loved ones. A fierce competitor who rose to the occasion in big moments, Claude was a relentless, courageous, and tenacious player who led the team to the highest honors. He embodied the very essence of being a Montreal Canadiens player.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, we mourn the untimely passing of one of our champions. Our thoughts are with his family on this difficult day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Associated Press contributed to this story. Please check back for updates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Longtime forward Claude Lemieux, one of hockey\u2019s fiercest competitors and greatest agitators during a memorable 21-year NHL career…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":336423,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[404,88,90,89,98,127],"class_list":["post-336422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-nhl","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-san-jose-sharks","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}