Claude Lemieux, a four-time Stanley Cup champion and former NHL player, has died at age 60, the NHL Alumni Association announced on Thursday. No cause of death was provided.
Lemieux played 21 seasons in the NHL, winning the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1995 and the Stanley Cup twice with the New Jersey Devils and once each with the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche. His 80 playoff goals rank ninth in NHL history. He scored 379 goals and 786 points in 1,215 regular-season games, accumulating 1,777 penalty minutes.
Known for his physical style, Lemieux amassed 529 penalty minutes in the playoffs (third all-time). In the 1996 Western Conference final, he checked Kris Draper from behind, breaking Draper's jaw, nose, and cheekbone. Lemieux was suspended for the first two games of the subsequent Stanley Cup Final.
After retiring in 2009, Lemieux worked as an NHL player agent. He last appeared in an NHL arena on Monday, carrying the torch before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final between the Canadiens and the Carolina Hurricanes in Montreal.
Lemieux is survived by four children, including former NHL player Brendan Lemieux, and his brother Jocelyn Lemieux, also a former NHL player.