Claude Lemieux, a four-time Stanley Cup champion and the 1995 Conn Smythe Trophy winner, has died, the NHL Alumni Association announced on Thursday. He was 60.
Lemieux’s death comes days after he participated in the Montreal Canadiens’ pregame torch ceremony for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Popularly known as Pepe, Lemieux helped the Canadiens hoist the Stanley Cup in 1986, scoring 16 points (10 goals and 6 assists) in 20 games during the team’s playoff run in his rookie season.
“Today is a dark day for the Canadiens family and the entire hockey community,” Canadiens president, CEO and co-owner Geoff Molson said in a statement, per The Athletic.
“A fierce competitor who rose to the occasion in big moments, Claude was a relentless, courageous, and tenacious player who led the team to the highest honours,” Molson added. “He embodied the very essence of being a Montreal Canadiens player. Today, we mourn the untimely passing of one of our champions.”
In his 21 years in the NHL, Lemieux also won the Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils twice and once with the Colorado Avalanche.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office told The Athletic that deputies responded to a suicide attempt Thursday morning at a Florida furniture showroom owned by Lemieux and his wife Deborah.
Lemieux’s death was confirmed by the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office, but any further information was withheld due to a Florida statute that prevents suicide cases from being accessed in public records.
In a statement obtained by The Athletic, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman praised Lemieux as “one of the greatest big-game players in hockey history.”
