The Villain Who Created the Championship Red Wings

My fascination with Claude Lemieux extends much further back than his epic playoff confrontations with the Detroit Red Wings as a standout player on the New Jersey Devils and Colorado Avalanche teams of the mid-1990s.

For obsessive fans of the NHL like me, Lemieux’s name already elicited both awe and disgust when he was lacing up for the Montreal Canadians in the 1980s.

An intense forward, Lemieux’s reputation as arguably the nastiest player in the league was already cemented by his second year in the league, but something else stirred fear in hearts of opposing fans.

Lemieux was a money player.

Loosely defined in the hockey world as a player capable of elevating his skill, speed, and intensity in the playoffs. A playoff killer!

Lemieux immediately showed this ability in his first season in the show in 1985-86. Called up for only 10 regular season games his rookie year, he entered the playoffs and turned into an absolute machine, scoring 10 goals and 16 points as the Canadians won the Stanley Cup.

He also accrued 68 penalty minutes in 20 playoff games that year. In laymen’s terms, this meant Lemieux was a big problem for any team the Canadiens faced in the playoffs.

By the 1990s, Lemieux found himself on the New Jersey Devils as they slowly emerged as a Stanley Cup contender, eventually putting Lemieux on a crash course with the Red Wings in 1994-95. Facing the Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals, Lemieux led the Devils to victory and was named the playoff MVP.

Lemieux had become the “Red Wing Killer.”

A year later, Lemieux’s unstoppable velocity blasted the Red Wings once again, this time as a member of the Colorado Avalanche. In Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals, Lemieux hit Kris Draper from behind, sending him into the boards face-first, causing him devastatingly serious facial injuries.

Lemieux damn near killed Kris Draper, a fan favorite in Detroit and a core player for the Red Wings.

This one hit shifted the entire axis of the NHL, ignited a feud that consumed the league and created one of the greatest sports rivalries in sports history.

The Western Conference arms race had begun.

The Avalanche went on to win the Stanley Cup in 1996 and Lemieux became the object of rage for the Red Wings and their fanbase.

With s singular focus, the Red Wings entered the 1996-97 season intent on hoisting the Stanley Cup, but first they needed revenge.

The showdown between the Red Wings and the Avalanche on March 26, 1997 was arguably the most anticipated regular season game in NHL history —now known as The Brawl In Hockeytown.

I was at that game sitting upper-bowl behind Hall of Fame Red Wing goalie Mike Vernon. The anger in the building was indescribable, a bloodlust so strong it felt manic.

One name was on the minds of every Metro Detroiter leading up to that game for months: Darren McCarty. He needed to avenge his friend and linemate, Kris Draper. He needed to avenge the Red Wings. He needed to avenge us all, damn it!

Late in the first period, in what can only be described as an all-out melee, McCarty pummeled Lemieux. The images of that fight are now iconic.

The Red Wings won that game in overtime and later that year broke the 42-year Stanley Cup drought by defeating the Philadelphia Flyers in a four game sweep. The rivalry between the Aves and Wings continued for a few years, with both teams winning additional Stanley Cups, but the feud dissipated as players were traded or retired.

Three decades later, nostalgia has replaced hate with respect. Acknowledgment and understanding has replaced the frenzied fanatic mania. “I hate Claude Lemieux” slowly became “I wish he’d played for our team.”

The Red Wings needed Lemieux. He was a perfect enemy at the right time. A Red Wing team carrying a curse and trying to overcome the last insurmountable hurdle sometimes needs a foil to put teammates on the same fixed mission. Lemieux’s nasty intensity pushed the Red Wings beyond their previous ability and made them find that extra postseason gear.

Claude Lemieux won 4 Stanley Cups on three different teams, a playoff MVP, and ranks ninth in playoff goals. That he accrued 529 career playoff penalty minutes is a sign that he was willing to cross any line of gentlemanly play to win.

It seems poignant and perfect that many opposing players from his 21-year NHL career, including Darren McCarty, have honored Lemieux’s life and spoken fondly and affectionately about him. McCarty specifically was grief stricken and called him a “brother.”

Many Red Wing fans have poured heartfelt respect for Lemieux across social media in a unifying outgrowth of grief. Lemieux’s impact and accomplishments in the NHL were so enormous President Trump even released an official statement acknowledging his passing.

It was very easy to hate Claude Lemieux during his career. With the distance of time, it’s much easier to respect him.

Money players are loved by their teams, hated by opposing teams, and absolutely detested by opposing fans, but the stat line and the hardware don’t lie. Lemieux will be remembered in death as the best money player of all.