Claude Lemieux wasn't always the most popular player on the ice, but winning hockey games isn't a popularity contest. Few players understood that better than Lemieux.
When the Colorado Avalanche acquired the veteran forward on October 3, 1995, they were getting more than an established goal scorer. They were getting a player who knew how to win Stanley Cups.
In a three-way deal involving the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders, the Avalanche acquired Lemieux while sending winger Wendel Clark to the Islanders and the Devils received Steve Thomas from the Islanders. Lemieux arrived with an impressive resume as he had already won championships with the Montreal Canadiens in 1986 and the Devils in 1995.
During the Devils' championship run, Lemieux scored 13 playoff goals and captured the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. He wasn't afraid of physical confrontation, enemies, or the postseason. The Avalanche were about to discover all three.
During the Avalanche's inaugural season in Colorado after moving from Quebec in 1995, Lemieux established a career high with 39 goals and finished with 71 points in 79 games.
He joined an offensive attack that featured the likes of Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Valeri Kamensky. Lemieux provided an element and an edge opposing players didn't appreciate. That reputation would become a central part of one of the NHL's fiercest rivalries.
During Game 6 of the 1996 Western Conference Final, Lemieux checked Detroit Red Wings forward Kris Draper from behind, sending him face-first into the boards. Draper suffered a broken jaw, cheekbone and nose. The NHL suspended Lemieux for the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final and fined him $1,000.
The incident was widely condemned and for the Red Wings, it became personal. The Avalanche defeated the Red Wings in six games before sweeping the Florida Panthers to capture the franchise's first Stanley Cup.
Lemieux had won consecutive championships with different teams, but the story wasn't finished between the Avalanche and Red Wings.
On March 26, 1997, a power keg exploded during a regular season meeting at Joe Louis Arena. The Red Wings' Darren McCarty went after Lemieux during a massive brawl that also featured a fight between goaltenders Patrick Roy and Mike Vernon. The game became known as Fight Night at the Joe. It was an unforgettable moment that would define the teams for much of the next decade.
The Red Wings eventually defeated the Avalanche in the 1997 Western Conference Final and went on to win the Stanley Cup. Lemieux remained with the Avalanche through the early portion of the 1999-2000 season before returning to the Devils. He would capture another Stanley Cup with the Devils in 2000, giving him four championships with three franchises.
Lemieux's time in Colorado was relatively brief but his impact was anything but.
He provided offensive production, postseason experience and a physical presence that helped the Avalanche establish themselves among the NHL's elite.
Claude Lemieux wasn't universally admired, but for the Avalanche, his arrival helped produce both a championship and a rivalry that became part of the franchise's identity.
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