Claude Lemieux

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Flags of Canada and the United States.svg  Claude Lemieux Ice hockey player
Date of birth July 16, 1965
place of birth Buckingham , Quebec , Canada
size 183 cm
Weight 98 kg
position Right wing
number # 32
Shot hand Right
Draft
NHL Entry Draft 1983 , 2nd lap, 26th position
Canadiens de Montréal
Career stations
1982-1983 Draveurs de Trois-Rivières
1983-1990 Canadiens de Montréal
1990-1995 New Jersey Devils
1995-1999 Colorado Avalanche
1999-2000 New Jersey Devils
2000-2003 Phoenix Coyotes
2003 Dallas Stars
2003-2004 EV train
2008-2009 San Jose Sharks

Claude Percy Lemieux (born July 16, 1965 in Buckingham , Québec ) is a retired Canadian ice hockey player with US citizenship. In the course of his active career between 1982 and 2003 and 2008 and 2010, among other things, 1449 games for the Canadiens de Montréal , New Jersey Devils , Colorado Avalanche , Phoenix Coyotes , Dallas Stars and San Jose Sharks in the National Hockey League on the position of right winger. Lemieux is one of only eleven players in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup with three different teams. In 1995 he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs . His younger brother Jocelyn Lemieux was also a professional ice hockey player.

Career

Lemieux played during his junior years first in the lower class junior leagues of the province of Québec with the Richelieu Riverains . For the 1982/83 season he moved to the higher-class Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec to the Draveurs de Trois-Rivières . In his rookie season he made a name for himself with 66 points in only 62 games, but also 187 penalty minutes. The following summer, the Canadiens de Montréal selected him in the second round of the 1983 NHL Entry Draft as the 26th player. He came right in the following 1983/84 season to his league debut when he completed eight games, in which he also scored his first goal, for the Canadiens. However, most of the season he still spent in the LHJMQ, where he had switched to the Junior de Verdun . His 86 scorer points in 51 games earned him a nomination for the LHJMQ Second All-Star Team as well as the chance to be recommended for a regular place in the Montréals NHL squad in two games for the Nova Scotia Voyageurs in the playoffs of the American Hockey League . The 1984/85 season he also played in the junior class and played only one more game for the Canadiens in the NHL. In the jersey of the Canadien junior de Verdun , for whom he now played in the LHJMQ, he again managed to increase his points. In 52 matches he reached 124 points scorer, which earned him another nomination - this time for the First All-Star Team of the LHJMQ. He had previously missed large parts of the season as he had prepared for the World Cup with the Canadian junior national team .

For the 1985/86 season , the now 20-year-old Lemieux switched to the professional field. First he was used in the farm team of the Montréal Canadiens, the Canadiens de Sherbrooke from the AHL, but was also used in ten NHL games. Nevertheless, he spent most of the season in the AHL, where he completed 58 games. The 1985/86 season was to remain the last minor league season in the career of the right winger , as he was ultimately able to earn a place in the playoffs for the Canadiens after the AHL season and the 1985 / 86 finished with the Stanley Cup win. In his first full year in the NHL, Lemieux knew how to impress with 53 points in 76 games. His achievements also earned him a nomination for the Rendez-vous '87 series of the NHL All-Stars against the Soviet national team . After winning Montreal's first Cup since 1979, the striker stayed with the team for three more seasons.

Although he had to suspend many games in the 1989/90 season because of an abdominal injury , the New Jersey Devils agreed in September 1990 to a transfer deal that Lemieux brought in exchange for Sylvain Turgeon on the US east coast. After a slight start with the Devils in his first season, he became a top performer in the following two years, when he had two of his best career years with 68 and 81 points respectively. In the following two seasons Lemieux's performances decreased and only in the course of the playoffs of the 1993/94 season , in which the Devils advanced to the final of the Eastern Conference , he let his qualities flash again. In the regular season of the 1994/95 season, which was shortened by the lockout , he could not connect to the playoffs of the previous season. However, he then completed the playoffs outstandingly and was instrumental in the Devils' first title win. His 13 playoff goals - seven more than in the regular season - brought him both his personal second Stanley Cup win and the Conn Smythe Trophy for the most valuable player in the playoffs.

Despite winning the prestigious trophy, Lemieux and the Devils parted ways. On October 3, 1995, he was initially given for Steve Thomas to the New York Islanders , who transferred him to the Colorado Avalanche for Wendel Clark on the same day . The Avalanche had only moved from Québec City to Denver the previous summer and was trying to form a title contender around Joe Sakic , Peter Forsberg and Patrick Roy . Lemieux found himself in the team right from the start and, measured by his point yield, had the second best season of his career with 71 points. In the first year he won the Stanley Cup again with Colorado, with Lemieux causing a negative climax in the course of the playoffs when he injured Kris Draper of the Detroit Red Wings with an attack, so that he was injured by a lower jaw , cheekbone and Broken nose and a concussion long failed. Lemieux has been suspended for two games for his offense. The revenge of the Red Wings culminated in the following game year in the so-called " Brawl in Hockeytown " on March 26, 1997 at a game of the Avalanche in the Detroit Joe Louis Arena and was intensively continued into the new millennium. In contrast to his time in New Jersey, Lemieux did not leave Colorado after winning the title, but stayed in the Rocky Mountains for three more seasons . He was always a top performer during this time, but another Stanley Cup victory was denied him, although the team was able to advance twice in the playoffs.

Shortly after the beginning of the 1999/2000 game year , Lemieux moved back to the New Jersey Devils, together with two first and second round draft rights in the NHL Entry Draft 2000 for Brian Rolston and a first round draft right, also in the Entry Draft 2000, since his contract on The end of the season came to an end and the Avalanche management did not expect a contract extension. With the Devils he finally secured his fourth Stanley Cup triumph at the end of the year. Like five years ago, the winger left the team and signed a contract with the Phoenix Coyotes as a free agent . After initial problems, he found himself there too, but in contrast to his previous positions, the team was not a title contender. After two and a half years, he moved to the Dallas Stars in the middle of the 2002/03 season for Scott Pellerin and a four-round draft right in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft . The stars went into the playoff race as the best team of the Western Conference as one of the favorites, but surprisingly had to admit defeat to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the second round . After a long break, during which he was again considered a free agent, he signed a contract with the Swiss A national league team EV Zug on February 9, 2004 , for which he played seven main rounds and five playoffs over the remainder of the 2003/04 season. Games played. Then he ended his career.

After the end of his active career, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the QMJHL in 2005 and assumed the office of President of the Phoenix RoadRunners from the ECHL . However, he gave up this after a total of three years in late summer 2008 when he announced that he would start a comeback attempt. In preparation, he joined the Arizona Sundogs from the Central Hockey League . In November 2008, the 43-year-old finally made his comeback when he signed a trial contract with the China Sharks from the Asia League Ice Hockey . For the cooperation partner of the San Jose Sharks from the NHL, the Enforcer played two games before returning to North America. A little later, the Worcester Sharks from the American Hockey League - also in cooperation with San Jose - submitted another trial contract for a maximum of 25 season games. After the striker had played 14 games by the end of December, in which he had managed six points, the San Jose Sharks finally presented him with a two-way contract valid for the NHL and AHL. Thus Lemieux was available to the team in Worcester for the rest of the season after he had not selected another NHL team from the waiver list - on which he had to be routinely placed for 24 hours. On January 20, 2009, the winger finally made his comeback in the NHL after almost six years of abstinence in the game of the San Jose Sharks, who had called him into the NHL squad the day before, against the Vancouver Canucks . During the remainder of the season, Lemieux was used in 18 regular season games and one playoff encounter. He was able to book a goal preparation. After the Sharks had not offered him a new contract, the striker announced his renewed and final resignation on July 8, 2009.

In addition to his physical robustness, Lemieux occupied his opponents with his not infrequently practiced "trash talk" . But he was also an excellent player who showed his qualities especially in the playoffs. This is supported by the fact that in three seasons he scored more goals in the playoffs than in the regular season and only eight players in the history of the NHL have scored more goals in the playoffs.

International

At the international level, Lemieux represented his home country Canada three times and once for the National Hockey League as part of the so-called Rendez-vous '87 .

Lemieux first appeared at the Junior World Championships in 1985 when he won the gold medal with the Canadian team. He himself controlled three goals and two assists in six tournament games . In 1987 he took part in two international comparisons, now playing in the senior class. First, he played the rendezvous '87 with the NHL All-Stars against the Soviet national team . In the two games he did not score a goal or participate in one. At the Canada Cup 1987 he played again in the jersey of Canada, which he slipped on in six matches. In the process, he scored one goal and prepared another. Winning the gold medal was also his first title win on an international level in the senior division. The last time Lemieux played in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey for his home country. There it was only enough to reach second place, as the Canadians had to admit defeat to the Americans twice in the final series.

Achievements and Awards

International

Career statistics

Regular season Play-offs
season team league Sp T V Pt SM Sp T V Pt SM
1982/83 Draveurs de Trois-Rivières LHJMQ 62 28 38 66 187 4th 1 0 1 30th
1983/84 Canadiens de Montréal NHL 8th 1 1 2 12 - - - - -
1983/84 Junior de Verdun LHJMQ 51 41 45 86 225 9 8th 12 20th 63
1984 Junior de Verdun Memorial Cup 3 1 3 4th 2
1983/84 Nova Scotia Voyageurs AHL - - - - - 2 1 0 1 6th
1984/85 Canadiens de Montréal NHL 1 0 1 1 7th - - - - -
1984/85 Canadien junior de Verdun LHJMQ 52 58 66 124 152 14th 23 17th 40 38
1985/86 Canadiens de Sherbrooke AHL 58 21st 32 53 145 - - - - -
1985/86 Canadiens de Montréal NHL 10 1 2 3 22nd 20th 10 6th 16 68
1986/87 Canadiens de Montréal NHL 76 27 26th 53 156 17th 4th 9 13 41
1987/88 Canadiens de Montréal NHL 78 31 30th 61 137 11 3 2 5 20th
1988/89 Canadiens de Montréal NHL 69 29 22nd 51 136 18th 4th 3 7th 58
1989/90 Canadiens de Montréal NHL 39 8th 10 18th 106 11 1 3 4th 38
1990/91 New Jersey Devils NHL 78 30th 17th 47 105 7th 4th 0 4th 34
1991/92 New Jersey Devils NHL 74 41 27 68 109 7th 4th 3 7th 26th
1992/93 New Jersey Devils NHL 77 30th 51 81 155 5 2 0 2 19th
1993/94 New Jersey Devils NHL 79 18th 26th 44 86 20th 7th 11 18th 44
1994/95 New Jersey Devils NHL 45 6th 13 19th 86 20th 13 3 16 20th
1995/96 Colorado Avalanche NHL 79 39 32 71 117 19th 5 7th 12 55
1996/97 Colorado Avalanche NHL 45 11 17th 28 43 17th 13 10 23 32
1997/98 Colorado Avalanche NHL 78 26th 27 53 115 7th 3 3 6th 8th
1998/99 Colorado Avalanche NHL 82 27 24 51 102 19th 3 11 14th 26th
1999/00 Colorado Avalanche NHL 13 3 6th 9 4th - - - - -
1999/00 New Jersey Devils NHL 70 17th 21st 38 86 23 4th 6th 10 28
2000/01 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 46 10 16 26th 58 - - - - -
2001/02 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 82 16 25th 41 70 5 0 0 0 2
2002/03 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 36 6th 8th 14th 30th - - - - -
2002/03 Dallas Stars NHL 32 2 4th 6th 14th 7th 0 1 1 10
2003/04 EV train NLA 7th 2 3 5 4th 5 1 3 4th 8th
2004/05 without a contract not played because of resignation
2005/06 without a contract not played because of resignation
2006/07 without a contract not played because of resignation
2007/08 without a contract not played because of resignation
2008/09 China Sharks ALIH 2 0 1 1 4th - - - - -
2008/09 Worcester Sharks AHL 23 3 8th 11 24 - - - - -
2008/09 San Jose Sharks NHL 18th 0 1 1 21st 1 0 0 0 0
LHJMQ total 165 127 149 276 564 27 32 29 61 131
AHL total 81 24 40 64 169 2 1 0 1 6th
NHL overall 1215 379 407 786 1777 234 80 78 158 529

International

Represented Canada to:

Represented the National Hockey League at:

year team event result Sp T V Pt SM
1985 Canada June World Cup 1st place, gold 6th 3 2 5 6th
1987 NHL All-Stars Date - 2 0 0 0 4th
1987 Canada Canada Cup 1st place, gold 6th 1 1 2 4th
1996 Canada World cup 2nd place 8th 1 1 2 19th
Juniors overall 6th 3 2 5 6th
Men overall 16 2 2 4th 27

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; 1  play-downs / relegation )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ usatoday.com, Veteran Claude Lemieux becomes US citizen
  2. ↑ tsn.ca, Lemieux retires after short stint with Sharks
personal data
SURNAME Lemieux, Claude
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lemieux, Claude Percy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian ice hockey player
DATE OF BIRTH July 16, 1965
PLACE OF BIRTH Buckingham , Quebec