The hockey world has lost one of their best post-season players in the history of the game in Claude Lemieux, who was a 4x Stanley Cup winner. On May 28th, Claude’s son found his body in back of the family’s furniture store in Florida around 3 AM. Claude has been battling depression most of his life and took his own by hanging himself. No one would have guessed that as he made a public appearance in Montreal while serving as a torch bearer at the Canadiens’ Eastern Conference finals game vs the Hurricanes. He is survived by his wife Deborah and 4 children. His son Brendan played in the NHL. His own brother, Jocelyn, also played professional hockey and he was in the NHL for 12 seasons. On the ice Claude was a beast. Off the ice he was a gentle giant teddy bear. He was a solid regular season player his entire 21 year career. When it came to the post-season, he was a money player. A hired hit man type that would get the job done each and every night on the ice. He was the Reggie Jackson of the hockey world.

Claude Lemieux was only 60 years of age. He was born on July 16th of 1965 in Buckingham, Quebec. The Montreal Canadiens selected him in the 2nd round of the 1983 NHL draft, 26th overall. He made his NHL debut in the 1983-84 season with the Canadiens. He skated for six different franchises. The three hockey franchises he stayed with the longest was Montreal, New Jersey, and Colorado where he helped them all win at least one Stanley Cup. He also skated three seasons in the desert with the Coyotes. Did one season with the Stars and concluded his career with the Sharks in 2008-09 season where he only played in 18 games. In 21 seasons, Claude played in 1,215 regular season games. Add another 234 playoff games to his hockey resume. In regular season he tallied up 379 goals and dished out 407 assists for a total of 786 points.

Claude Lemieux was that guy you hated if he did not play for your team. If he did wear your team’s jersey, you instantly fell in love with his style of play, especially in post-season. You can ask any Red Wings fan. Claude in a post-season game in the finals laid out Detroit’s Kris Draper which was a game six of the series when he wore a Devils uniform. Draper’s face hit the boards and the hit caused serious facial injuries. Claude became known as a Red Wing killer as it sparked a rivalry that played out with the Devils and lingered into his Colorado days. Claude’s nickname was Pepe.

He was named after that cartoon skunk, Pepe La Pew. The name fits because of his style of play. Claude was an agitator on the ice along with being an enforcer. He also skated well and can put the puck in the net. He elevated his level of play in the post-season like flipping a light switch. When he won his first cup in Montreal for the Canadiens back in the 1985-’86 season, he scored 10 goals with 16 points during that post-season run. He helped the New Jersey Devils win their first cup ever in the 1994-95 season. That was the year Claude became MVP of the cup finals and won the Smythe award. His third cup came the following year wearing the Avalanche sweater in the 1995-96 season.Then Claude would find his way back to Jersey and won another cup during the 1999-’00 season. In 234 games he played in post-season, he scored 80 goals and dished out 78 assists for a total of 158 points. He ranks number 9 all-time on the NHL’s post-season goals list.

After getting the best of the Red Wings in two different uniforms, Detroit got their revenge on their home ice versus Claude Lemieux who was still skating with the Avalanche. Red Wings fans were wanting blood in a regular season game in hockey town with their Wings and the visiting Avalanche. Late in the first period, pretty much a brawl broke out between the two teams. In an epic fight between Claude and Darren McCarthy, the Red Wings fan got their revenge. McCarthy beat the daylights out of Claude that day in that game. They would have a rematch months later. Claude was able to cross that line in post-season play doing the dirty things as he racked up over 500 penalty minutes in post-season play. Claude was a vilian to the Red Wings which made them better as they created their own dynasty after those epic 1990’s clashes between the Devils and Avalanche. McCarthy after hearing about the passing of Claude, called him a brother as they became friends later on in life & he expressed his condolences to the Lemieux family.

Everyone wishes they had that easy button in life. Nothing is ever easy in life. Sure many people make things look that easy. Claude Lemieux probably found hockey was easier than family life in general. I can imagine hockey was his outlet in life. To play the game he has played since he was kid. Push away all those feelings inside that come pimping up in the mindset. Claude has been retired from the game for over a decade. The mind starts to race with too many thoughts. Maybe some regrets in life. Depression is a real thing that many people back in the day would poke fun at. Hockey players beat the shit out of each other on the ice & then shake hands after the match. Whatever happens on the ice stays on the ice. In the real world feelings don’t go away as they linger. Why do people get hooked on drugs and drinking? Trying to force those lingering feelings away. Claude was happy being the torchbearer at the Canadiens game not too long ago. The family could not see it as he obviously had something bothering him to take his own life that way. Leaving his kids and wife. Which is a shame. Most of the world has mental issues. Some may not even know they do. I hope the Lemieux family can cope with this tragedy. Certain deaths of loved ones can linger for a very long time. It’s definitely a sad day in the sports world losing a great player along with a person that way. Hopefully a death like that can prevent someone else down the road from ending their own lives. RIP PEPE!!!