Claude Lemieux, a feisty winger and a four-time Stanley Cup champion, dies at 60

Claude Lemieux, a four-time Stanley Cup champion whose hockey career was built on playing on the edge with ferocity and physicality, has died. He was 60.

The NHL Alumni Association announced Lemieux's death in a post on social media. A cause of death was not immediately available, nor was it clear where Lemieux was when he died.

Lemieux on Monday night was the Montreal Canadiens’ torch bearer prior to Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final at Bell Centre.

“Today is a dark day for the Canadiens family and the entire hockey community," Canadiens owner Geoff Molson said. “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 honors. He embodied the very essence of being a Montreal Canadiens player. Today we mourn the untimely passing of one of our champions. Our thoughts are with his family on this difficult day.”

As a player, Lemieux was a mix of skill and abrasiveness, not afraid to cross the line in the name of competition.

He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP for his role in helping the New Jersey Devils win their first championship in 1995. A year later with the Colorado Avalanche, he was suspended for two games for a hit from behind on Detroit's Kris Draper on the way to them hoisting the Stanley Cup for the first time in their first season since moving from his native Quebec.

Darren McCarty, a truculent member of the Red Wings during the heyday of their rivalry with the Avalanche that was sparked by Lemieux's hit on Draper, posted a broken heart emoji on social media with the alumni's announcement and additional thoughts about his former adversary's death.

“This is extremely sad no matter what feelings from past or present you hold,” McCarty said. “My thoughts and prayers to his family and friends, and people who got to see the person off the ice wasn’t the person on. As I’ve said and will always call it as I see it "If you're on the ICE with Claude Lemieux and your turn your back. YOU Are an IDIOT. But off the ICE I’ll turn mine" And please. If you are struggling at all please reach out and talk to someone. Godspeed my friend.”

Lemieux also won the Cup with Montreal in 1986 and returned to the Devils to be a part of their title run in 2000. He played 1,449 regular-season and playoff games with six different teams from 1983-2009.

Commissioner Gary Bettman called Lemieux “one of the greatest big-game players in hockey history.”

Lemieux had become an agent in the years since his playing career ended and represented Carolina’s Frederik Andersen, New Jersey's Timo Meier, Detroit's Moritz Seider and Boston's Hampus Lindholm among more than a dozen clients in the NHL.

At a gathering in December to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of Colorado's '95 Stanley Cup championship, Lemieux said of winning, “When it’s happening, when you’re in the middle of it, you don’t quite appreciate it as much as you should.”

Late former teammate Chris Simon was represented during the on-ice ceremony by his children. He died in 2024 at 52.

“It’s very difficult, and especially with Chris passing at such a young age,” Lemieux said. “We have to count our blessings — be grateful for the days that we have and enjoy and appreciate those times when we get together.”

AP Sports Writer Pat Graham in Denver contributed to this report.

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FILE - Former Montreal Canadiens player Claude Lemieux holds a torch as he enters the arena before Game 3 of the NHL Eastern Conference final Stanley Cup playoff series between the Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes, Monday, May 25, 2026, in Montreal. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - New Jersey Devils right wing Claude Lemieux holds the Conn Smythe Trophy after his team defeated the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals to win the championship Saturday night, June 24, 1995 at the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, N.J.(AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, File)

FILE - New Jersey Devils Claude Lemieux is greeted at the bench after scoring a goal in the first period of Game 3 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals against the Detroit Redwings Thursday, June 22, 1995 at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun , File)

FILE - Retired Colorado Avalanche player Claude Lemieux waves to fans as he is honored for his years on the ice before the Avalanche host the New Jersey Devils in the first period of an NHL hockey game in Denver, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

Police in Hawaii were searching Thursday for a 36-year-old man whom they described as “armed and extremely dangerous” and wanted in connection with three killings within a two-day span earlier this week.

Hawaii Police Chief Reed Mahuna said authorities were deploying “significant resources and personnel” in trying to find Jacob Baker, of Pahoa, Hawaii.

Three men, including two who were 69 years old and one who was 79, were found dead on Monday and Tuesday in the Puna area of the island of Hawaii, also known as the Big Island. The island is the largest in the Hawaiian chain at more than 4,000 square miles (10,360 square kilometers).

“These are a tragic series of events and our thoughts are with those who are grieving at this time,” Mahuna said at a news conference Wednesday. “The Hawaii Police Department understands the fear and concerns incidents like this bring to our community.”

Mahuna declined to provide details on the search, but said bringing Baker into custody was his department's “No. 1 priority.”

Authorities said they had not identified a motive but were confident Baker was involved in all three homicides. Mahuna did not release information on how police identified Baker as a suspect or what evidence may connect him to the killings.

On Monday at around 8 p.m., police found a 69-year-old man at a residence partially submerged in a cement pond, Mahuna said. Police did not initially know whether foul play was involved, but preliminary autopsy results showed the death was a homicide, the chief said.

On Tuesday, a 79-year-old man was found dead with apparent blunt force injuries shortly after 12:30 p.m., Mahuna said. The killing happened about 400 to 500 feet (122 to 152 meters) from the first homicide, he said.

Later Tuesday, at around 10 p.m., police responded to a property about 19 miles (31 kilometers) from the other two killings on a welfare check request and found a 69-year-old man dead with injuries, Mahuna said.

Police said there were no known connections among the victims, other than the first two men lived near each other. Mahuna said guns were not used in the killings.

Mahuna said Baker is known to police, but did not elaborate.

Two women filed petitions for temporary restraining orders against Baker just last week, related to what they said were threats and harassment happening at a farm they were staying on or co-owned. A judge ultimately denied both applications, saying there was not enough proof of harassment provided.

One of the women claimed in her petition that Baker had threatened to kill several women who were staying on the property, and had caused a number of them to move or end their stays. She included a link to a video that allegedly captured at least one threat, but the link had either been removed or was incorrect as of Thursday.

The other woman alleged in her petition that Baker had threatened women and a disabled man, and said he would trespass on the property, take things that didn’t belong to him and say his intention was to squat on the property.

No attorney was listed for Baker, who had 20 other cases in the court record in the past two decades, many of them traffic infractions. There were also a handful of criminal or administrative citations including letting a dog wander, failure to appear in court and simple trespassing.

In most of those cases, Baker represented himself.

Puna, on the eastern side of the island, is a rural but fast-growing area known for affordable housing prices. It's also an area where lava flows have wiped out entire communities over the years. The landscape is lush and tropical mixed with barren lava fields.

Officials were asking the public to report any information about Baker and any suspicious activities in the areas of the homicides to police, and urged people not to approach Baker.

Associated Press writer Jennifer Kelleher in Honolulu contributed to this report.

FILE - A sign welcomes people to Pahoa, Hawaii, on May 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones, File)

This undated photo provided by the Hawaiʻi Police Department on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, shows Jacob Baker. (Hawaiʻi Police Department via AP)