Claude Lemieux, the pesky forward with a penchant for clutch performances, a multitude of trophies and medals, and one of a handful of players to win the Stanley Cup with three different clubs, sadly passed away today at the age of 60, just days after appearing in Montréal during the Canadiens’ current playoff run.

Coming up through the Montréal Canadiens system after an illustrious junior career, Lemieux, along with fellow rookie Patrick Roy, was called up to the big club at the end of the 1985-86 NHL season, helping the Habs to a magical Stanley Cup run, notching sixteen points in twenty games en route to Montréal’s twenty-third Stanley Cup. After seven seasons with the Canadiens, Lemieux was traded to New Jersey in 1990, capping his five seasons with the Devils with his second Stanley Cup in 1995, where he also won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP with another sixteen points in twenty games. Traded to Colorado the following season, Lemieux would have another historic (and quite controversial) Stanley Cup run, winning his third title with the Avalanche in 1996. Being sent back to the Devils after two seasons in Colorado, Lemieux would win his fourth and final Cup in New Jersey in 2000. Following his Cup win, Lemieux would spend time between Phoenix, Dallas and San Jose, along with short stints in Switzerland and China, before officially retiring in 2009, notching 786 points in 1,215 career games over 21 NHL seasons, along with another 158 points in 234 playoff games, making the playoffs in all but three seasons in his career.

A native of the Ottawa-Gatineau region, Lemieux first joined Team Canada at the 1985 World Junior Championship, notching five points in six games to help Canada to just their second Gold medal. Given his playoff success following his pro turn the following year, Lemieux never played at the World Championships, only joining Canada twice more in international best-on-best tournaments. He first joined the senior team at the 1987 Canada Cup, suiting up in six games (but none in the three-game final) en route to Canada’s third Canada Cup. His second and final senior appearance was nearly a decade later at the 1996 World Cup Of Hockey, where he had a far more prominent role, including an infamous tilt against Keith Tkachuk in the opening seconds of Canada’s second game; Lemieux would suit up in all eight of Canada’s games, settling for Silver after falling to the United States.

Our condolences go out to the Lemieux family, as well as the extended hockey community across North America, on the loss of this larger than life player, and the illustrious career that he had.

Photo Credit: NBC Sports – IIHF – HHOF – IOC