On Thursday morning, the NHL Alumni Association announced that NHL legend and former San Jose Sharks winger Claude Lemieux has passed away at the age of 60.
Lemieux's NHL journey began when he was drafted by his local team, the Montreal Canadiens, in the second round of the 1983 NHL Draft. He then made his NHL debut during the 1983-84 season and even scored his first career goal during his first eight game stint in Montreal.
Lemieux earned his first Stanley Cup championship in 1986 after splitting time between the Canadiens and the Sherbrooke Canadiens of the American Hockey League.
The tenacious winger would establish himself as a full-time NHLer during the 1986-87 season, playing in 76 games for the Canadiens. He surpassed the 20-goal plateau for the first time in his career as well, finding the back of the net 27 times. He would remain with the Canadiens through the end of the 1980s and into 1990. He was traded to the New Jersey Devils for the 1990-91 season, and spent five seasons in the Garden State.
In his final season in New Jersey, Lemieux won his second Stanley Cup and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy for the only time in his career after scoring 13 goals in the playoffs.
The newly established Colorado Avalanche acquired Lemieux ahead of the 1995-96 season. He would go on to win the Stanley Cup for the second straight year during his first campaign in Colorado.
After four full seasons in Colorado, the Avalanche sent Lemieux back to New Jersey in the middle of the 1999-00 season and he went on to win his fourth, and final, Stanley Cup as a member of the Devils.
At the start of the new millennium, Lemieux went to the Phoenix Coyotes for three seasons before being traded to the Dallas Stars in the middle of the 2002-03 season. The Stars would end up buying out his contract, and it seemed that Lemieux's career had come to an unceremonious end. While that would be the case for five years, he eventually made a comeback.
In November of 2008, Lemieux signed with the San Jose Sharks' AHL affiliate at the time, the Worcester Sharks. A month later, he was signed to an NHL deal and finished his career in the Bay Area. Following the conclusion of the 2008-09 season, he officially announced his retirement from professional hockey.
After his retirement, Lemieux became a player agent and represented a number of players, including former Sharks such as Timo Meier and Fabian Zetterlund.
Lemieux was in the spotlight once again just a few days ago, as he carried out the torch for the Montreal Canadiens prior to Game 3 against the Carolina Hurricanes.