Claude Lemieux's family has issued a statement following the forward's tragic death.
The family of former Montreal Canadiens player Claude Lemieux has issued a statement following his death. His son Brendan Lemieux took to Instagram to relay a message to the hockey world.
The statement recalls Lemieux’s career and the impact he had on others, and thanks those who have taken part in the outpouring of love the family has received since Lemieux’s passing from friends, fans, former teammates, opponents, and organizations.
The statement also announces that the family has chosen to donate Lemieux’s brain to the UNITE Brain Bank at Boston University CTE Center for research into the long-term effects of repeated head impacts and traumatic head injuries. Lemieux is just the latest in a long list of former gritty NHL players to take their own lives. Chris Simon, Bob Probert, Derek Boogaard, Wade Belak, and Rick Rypien all died at their own hands. Probert and Boogaard were both confirmed to have CTE following their deaths.
To know more about the CTE Center and its research, you can read the late great Ken Dryden’s book Game Change, which covers at length the consequences of such injuries and gives a lot of food for thought on the topic. The Habs' former goaltender was passionate about the topic and a strong advocate for changes to the game.
The family acknowledges that the former player took his own life but asks that they be given time to grieve on their own terms and adds that they won’t be making any other statement.
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