New details are emerging about the emotional struggles that friends say haunted a four-time Stanley Cup champion in the years leading up to his death.
According to exclusive reporting by the New York Post, former NHL star Claude Lemieux, who helped lead three franchises to four Stanley Cup titles during a celebrated 20-year career, died by suicide Thursday after hanging himself inside the warehouse of his family’s furniture business in Palm Beach County, Florida.
He was 60.
Those who knew Lemieux say the retired hockey standout had been carrying personal burdens for years, including lingering disappointment over never being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
According to longtime Montreal hockey columnist Rejean Tremblay, a friend of more than three decades, the omission remained a painful subject for Lemieux long after his playing career ended.
“He always lived this as an injustice, a heavy burden to bear,” Tremblay told The Post.
“The sense of rejection ran deeper than one might have imagined. He took it very hard.”
Friends described Lemieux as fiercely competitive on the ice but emotionally sensitive away from the rink.
Tremblay recalled a story Lemieux once shared from early in his career. After being sent to the minor leagues following his first NHL season in 1985, the young player was devastated.
According to Tremblay, Lemieux said he smashed his car’s windshield and drove roughly 100 miles from Montreal to Sherbrooke with the damaged vehicle because he was so upset by the demotion.
Just days before his death, Lemieux returned to Montreal to participate in a beloved Canadiens tradition, carrying the ceremonial torch before Game 3 of the NHL’s conference finals at Bell Centre.
The appearance was met with an enthusiastic reception from more than 21,000 fans.
“It’s possible that surge of love, that wave of love on Monday evening, triggered an emotion that was too intense,” Tremblay said, citing NHL friends close to Lemieux.
“It might have reawakened old pains, old suffering.”
Sources also told The Post that Lemieux spent approximately a decade estranged from his children at one point, another issue that reportedly weighed heavily on him.
“It hurt him tremendously,” said Tremblay.
Family friend Colombe Lacroix said Lemieux had been battling depression, but that those closest to him never expected he would take his own life.
“They didn’t expect that at all, they never saw it coming,” Lacroix told The Post. “He’s been going through a difficult time; he was depressed.”
“It’s so devastating, everyone is upside down,” she added.
Lacroix said Lemieux made a point of seeing his parents during his recent trip to Montreal and also brought his two oldest sons, Michael and Christopher, with him.
Reflecting on her final meeting with the former NHL star, Lacroix recalled an emotional farewell.
“I held Claude in my arms, and I said thank you for being there for me,” she said.
“He left our world too soon, and I hope he’s in a better place and that he’s happy.”
If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, call or text 988 in the United States and Canada to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or contact local emergency services immediately.