Surprising and sad news broke on Thursday when it was announced that former NHL player and current agent Claude Lemieux passed away. Just a few days earlier, he was the honorary “torch bearer” at the Bell Centre for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final between the Montreal Canadiens and the Carolina Hurricanes. Lemieux played for six NHL teams during his over two-decade-long playing career.
One of those teams was the New Jersey Devils. Lemieux holds the distinction of being the team’s first Conn Smythe Winner as playoff MVP as an irreplaceable part of the 1995 Stanley Cup championship team. He would win another after returning to the team against the Dallas Stars in 2000. He later became a player agent and represented current Devils player Timo Meier.
The lovable pest players hated to play against did more than enough to be inducted into the New Jersey Devils Ring of Honor, as the first posthumous inductee.
Claude Lemieux was already on the list of possible Ring of Honor recipients, and his legacy should be honored posthumously
The Devils reserve the Ring of Honor for players and personnel who contributed to the franchise, but haven’t reached immortality status to have their numbers retired. Inductions have become a somewhat annual occurrence in the past few seasons that fans look forward to. So far, all four inductees, former owner John J. McMullen, former coach Jacques Lemaire, and former players Sergei Brylin and John MacLean, all have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup as a part of that 1995 championship team. Lemieux would fit right in.
Then again, the one argument that could be used against Lemieux is that his time with the Devils was shorter than the four other inductees. Brylin was a lifelong member of the Devils, and MacLean played all but four seasons of an almost two-decade-long career with New Jersey before returning in both a broadcasting and coaching capacity. Lemieux established himself as a star and won his first cup with Montreal before being traded to New Jersey in 1990. The fact that he was a ceremonial torch bearer for one of this year’s playoff games shows just how beloved he still is by the Canadiens.
Right after his 1995 Cup victory, he was traded to Colorado, where he would instantly win another championship, before being traded back to New Jersey during the 1999-2000 season. Even though he won yet another Cup, his fourth overall, with New Jersey that year, he would leave in free agency for the Phoenix Coyotes.
All in all, the player affectionately known as Pepe only spent six of his 22 seasons with New Jersey. An interesting family footnote, his brother Jocelyn had a short stint with the Devils during the 1995-1996 season.
Being a beloved Canadiens icon didn’t stop Lemaire’s induction, and being one of only two playoff MVPs in team history should make up for his other career stops. The Devils need to do the right thing and announce plans to induct Lemieux immediately for this upcoming season. It’s sure to be an emotional night at Prudential Center, one Pepe unfortunately won’t be in attendance for, but will be there in spirit. Barstool Sports Frank the Tank, a noted Devils fan, also brought up the idea of the team wearing a memorial patch on their jerseys. If the Harris/Blitzer ownership group really cares about the history of the franchise and its glory years, they’ll waste no time in doing so.
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