Claude Lemieux Biography

Claude Percy Lemieux, born on July 16, 1965, was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who competed in the National Hockey League for over two decades. He played as a right winger and has competed in the NHL for 21 seasons across six different teams from 1983 to 2009. Lemieux secured four Stanley Cup championships during his career, including two with the New Jersey Devils, where he was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy after the 1995 Stanley Cup Final. He was traded to the New Jersey Devils in 1990 and spent five seasons with the team, winning a second Stanley Cup title. During the playoffs in that season, he delivered a hit from behind on Kris Draper of the Detroit Red Wings, resulting in facial fractures and intensifying the rivalry between the Avalanche and Red Wings. Lemieux returned to the NHL in the 2008–09 season with the San Jose Sharks before retiring permanently after that campaign. He was selected in the second round of the 1983 NHL Entry Draft by the Montreal Canadiens, launching his professional career.