UNITED STATES - MAY 15: Hockey: playoffs, Closeup of Colorado Avalanche's Claude Lemieux (22) in action vs Detroit Red Wings Brendan Shanahan (14), Denver, CO 5/15/1997 (Photo by Tim DeFrisco/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (SetNumber: X52806 …
DETROIT (FOX 2) - Former National Hockey League standout Claude Lemieux has died, according to the NHL Alumni Association on Thursday.
The backstory:
Lemieux, 60, was known best in Detroit as an infamous villain during the height of the Red Wings-Colorado Avalanche rivalry. The four-time Stanley Cup champion was known for his antagonistic, physical play and deft goal-scoring ability.
TMZ is reporting that the cause of death has been ruled as a suicide.
Retired Red Wings great Darren McCarty posted online about the death of his onetime enemy-turned friend.
"Just heard the news on #ClaudeLemieux This is extremely sad no matter what feelings from past or present you hold," McCarty wrote. "My thoughts and prayers to his family and friends and people who got to see the person off the ice wasn’t the person on. As I’ve said and will always call it as I see it ‘If your on the ICE with Claude Lemieux and your turn your back. YOU Are an IDIOT. But off the ICE I’ll turn mine’ And please. If you are struggling at all please reach out and talk to someone Godspeed my friend."
Lemieux was reviled in Detroit after a blindside hit on Kris Draper from behind breaking the Red Wings role player's orbital, cheek, and jaw bone in the 1996 playoffs.
The next season on March 26, 1997, the infamous Red Wings-Avalanche brawl took place which included McCarty squaring off with Lemieux and the Avs forward "turtling" on the ice amid a flurry of blows.
17 Dec 1997: Rightwinger Claude Lemieux of the Colorado Avalanche (left) in action against defenseman Viacheslav Fetison and leftwinger Tomas Holmstrom of the Detroit Red Wings during a game at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado. The Re …
In recent years, McCarty and Lemieux forged a friendship during retirement, featured in the 2022 ESPN Films documentary "Unrivaled Red Wings vs. Avalanche."
Born in Buckingham, Quebec, Lemieux was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round of the 1983 NHL Entry Draft.
Lemieux won Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens, the New Jersey Devils, in which he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, with the Avs in 1996 and after rejoining the Devils, a second cup in 2000.
Internationally, Lemieux played for Team Canada on several occasions, including winning the 1987 Canada Cup.
He is survived by his wife and four children.
If you or a loved one is feeling distressed, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The crisis center provides free and confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to civilians and veterans. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255. Or text to 741-741
CLICK HERE for the warning signs and risk factors of suicide. Call 1-800-273-TALK for free and confidential emotional support.
The Source: Information for this story is from the NHL Alumni Association.