Claude Lemieux, a four-time Stanley Cup champion and one of the NHL’s fiercest players, has died

Claude Lemieux, a four-time Stanley Cup champion and one of the NHL’s fiercest players, has died, the NHL Alumni Association announced Thursday. He was 60 years old.

According to The Athletic, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a suicide attempt Thursday morning at a furniture showroom owned by Lemieux and his wife, Deborah. The Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office would only confirm Lemieux’s death and cited a Florida statute exempting suicide cases from public records requirements.

“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,” read a statement from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

Lemieux played 21 seasons in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, Colorado Avalanche, Phoenix Coyotes, Dallas Stars and San Jose Sharks. He won two Stanley Cups with the Devils and one each with the Avalanche and Canadiens.

In 1,215 regular-season games, Lemieux scored 379 goals and tallied 786 points. He was also not shy about being an agitator on the ice, as evidenced by his 1,777 career penalty minutes.

On Monday night, ahead of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final between the Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes, Lemieux was at Bell Centre as a torchbearer during pregame ceremonies.

“Today is a dark day for the Canadiens family and the entire hockey community. I wish to express my most sincere and deepest condolences to Claude’s family and loved ones,” Canadiens owner Geoff Molson said in a statement. “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. He embodied the very essence of being a Montreal Canadiens player. Today, we mourn the untimely passing of one of our champions.”

Lemieux always showed up in the playoffs
During his career, Lemieux showed he was a playoff performer. He scored 80 times in 234 Stanley Cup playoff games, good for ninth all-time in NHL history. As the Devils made their run to the 1995 Stanley Cup title, Lemieux scored 13 goals and recorded 16 points in 20 games, earning him the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs.

After being a first-round selection in the 1983 NHL Draft by the Canadiens, Lemieux got his first taste of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 1986 as Montreal marched to another championship. Not yet a fixture in the lineup in his first three regular seasons as a professional, Lemieux found his game that postseason, scoring 10 goals and registering 16 points in 20 games.