Claude Lemieux built his legacy by fighting through adversity.

For more than two decades, the former NHL forward was known as one of hockey’s fiercest competitors — a player who elevated his game when the pressure was highest and became synonymous with playoff success.

But away from the spotlight, Lemieux was facing a battle few people knew about.

New details surrounding his death reveal that the four-time Stanley Cup champion struggled in the months leading up to his passing, including a reported relapse after 12 years of sobriety per TMZ. According to an incident report released following his death, Lemieux’s wife, Deborah, confronted him on May 27 after becoming concerned about changes in his behavior.

The report states Lemieux acknowledged he had relapsed. Deborah then asked him to leave their home that evening and contacted their son, Brendan, to discuss how the family could support him.

Hours later, Lemieux was found dead at the family business. He was 60 years old.

His death was later ruled a suicide.

Lemieux’s career was defined by moments when the stakes were highest.

Selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round of the 1983 NHL Draft, Lemieux went on to become one of the most accomplished playoff performers of his generation. Over a 21-season NHL career, he won four Stanley Cups — with Montreal in 1986, New Jersey in 1995 and 2000, and Colorado in 1996.

He developed a reputation as the ultimate big-game player, thriving in the intensity of postseason hockey and becoming one of the league’s most polarizing figures. Opponents hated playing against him, but teammates valued the edge, toughness and confidence he brought when championships were on the line.

Away from the ice, however, longtime friend Réjean Tremblay suggested Lemieux carried emotional struggles tied to how he felt his career was remembered after retirement.

Tremblay, a Montreal hockey columnist who knew Lemieux for more than 30 years, told The New York Post that Lemieux struggled deeply with not being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame following his retirement in 2009.

“He always lived this as an injustice, a heavy burden to bear,” Tremblay said.

Tremblay described Lemieux as someone who was “deeply sensitive to rejection,” saying the former NHL star never fully moved past the disappointment.

“The sense of rejection ran deeper than one might have imagined,” Tremblay said. “He took it very hard.”

In the months before his death, Lemieux made several public appearances celebrating a career that cemented his place in hockey history.

In December, he returned to Ball Arena as part of the Colorado Avalanche’s celebration of their 1996 Stanley Cup championship team — the first major professional sports championship in Colorado history.

Lemieux played an important role in that title run, recording seven goals during the Avalanche’s first Stanley Cup playoff journey after relocating from Quebec. During the celebration, he reflected on how the NHL had evolved since his playing days, praising the league’s increased emphasis on player safety.

Just days before his death, Lemieux returned to Montreal for another emotional moment.

On May 25, he served as a torchbearer before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final between the Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes. The appearance brought him back to the city where his NHL journey began and where he helped Montreal capture the 1986 Stanley Cup alongside goaltending legend Patrick Roy.

Tremblay later suggested the overwhelming support Lemieux received during that appearance may have brought complicated emotions to the surface.

“It’s possible that surge of love, that wave of love on Monday evening, triggered an emotion that was too intense,” Tremblay told The New York Post, citing conversations with people close to Lemieux.

“It might have reawakened old pains, old suffering.”

According to the incident report, Lemieux’s family had become concerned about changes they had noticed in his behavior over the previous year.

After Deborah confronted him and Lemieux acknowledged the relapse, Brendan went to the family business to check on his father and help determine how the family could support him.

The report states Brendan later found his father inside the building and contacted emergency services.

Lemieux’s family has since mourned the loss of a husband, father and grandfather — not just an NHL legend.

“I love you dad,” Brendan Lemieux wrote in an emotional tribute shared on Instagram. “My son [Luc’s] favorite person is going to watch from above for a while. We will see you.”

The NHL also honored Lemieux’s impact on the sport.

“The National Hockey League mourns the passing of Claude Lemieux, a four-time Stanley Cup champion and one of the greatest big-game players in hockey history,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said.

Claude Lemieux’s career will always be defined by the moments when he delivered under the brightest lights — the goals, the championships and the relentless competitive fire that made him one of hockey’s most memorable postseason performers.

But those who knew him best will remember more than the player who battled through playoff wars. They will remember a husband, a father and a person who faced struggles that were hidden from the public eye.

As the hockey world continues to mourn his passing, Lemieux’s story serves as a reminder that even those who appear strongest on the outside can be fighting battles no one else can see.