Exclusive: Rangers legend remembers Claude Lemieux as ‘fierce competitor’
Mike Richter admits he didn’t really know Claude Lemieux off the ice. But on it, the New York Rangers legend felt like he got to know the skilled and abrasive former forward quite well, thanks in part to some epic playoff confrontations between the Blueshirts and New Jersey Devils in the 1990s.
“I knew him only as a player, an opponent, not as a person. But he was a helluva player. Skill, grit. When you played against him on the ice, you hated him. He was a real agitator, so difficult to play against. But you had to also respect his ability. He was an elite player,” Richter told Forever Blueshirts in an exclusive interview.
“He was a fierce competitor. And I respect that.”
Lemieux died Thursday at the age of 60. Just a few days after carrying the torch into Bell Centre before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final between the Montreal Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes, the four-time Stanley Cup champion reportedly took his own life in Florida.
“I don’t know the circumstances, but life is so precious and you never know what someone is going through,” Richter offered. “His is a life cut short. Only 60. Looked vibrant the other night in Montreal. I’m saddened to hear this. It’s a huge loss. He was always so full of life on the ice.”
Lemieux left behind his wife, Deborah, four grown children — including former Rangers forward Brendan Lemieux, and grandchildren. For nearly two decades, he was a player agent following his own playing career. And Lemieux’s death shocked his client base, which included Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen, Devils forward Timo Meier, Detroit Red Wings star Moritz Seider, Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Rasmus Andersson, and Rangers minor leaguer Anton Blidh, among many others.
He played 1,215 regular-season games for six NHL teams, scored 379 goals, totaled 786 points, and accumulated 1,777 penalty minutes. Five times he scored at least 30 goals, including a career high of 41 with the Devils in 1991-92.
But it was in the Stanley Cup Playoffs where he made his biggest mark. And where he was an even bigger pain in the ass than in the regular season — and don’t be fooled, he was a royal pain then too.
Lemieux played in 234 postseason games. Only four players in NHL history appeared in more — Chris Chelios (266), Nicklas Lidstrom (263), Corey Perry (244), and Mark Messier (236). Lemieux’s 80 playoff goals are ninth all-time. He won the Stanley Cup twice with the Devils, and once each each with the Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche. In 1995, he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
You may also remember that Lemieux pretty much rearranged Kris Draper’s face to further fuel the heated rivalry between his Avalanche and Draper’s Red Wings in the 1996 Western Conference Final.
Rangers legend Mike Richter ‘couldn’t help but respect’ Claude Lemieux as opponent, especially in playoffs
It was playoff-Lemieux that Richter remembered most when discussing his former rival with Forever Blueshirts in a telephone conversation Thursday night. The Rangers and Devils met twice in the postseason during the 1990s, with the Rangers winning in seven games each time — the 1992 Patrick Division Final and the epic Eastern Conference Final in 1994.
Lemieux had 12 points (six goals, six assists) and 56 penalty minutes in those 14 games over two playoff series against the Rangers. And Richter recalled that the feisty Devils forward was always front and center when the Rangers game-planned for their cross-river rivals.
“All four [Devils] lines could grind and wear you down. They had so many gritty, but skilled players there,” the 1994 Stanley Cup champion explained. “But Claude would always be called out by name. It was specifically him we needed to focus on because he could beat you every way imaginable.
“You couldn’t help but respect him. He was so dominant in those playoffs, rose to the occasion, and was such a competitor.”
How much did he get under Richter’s skin?
“He was always yapping at you, falling on you, coming in late to agitate. He’d do anything to win,” Richter said. “I hated him on the ice. He was always looking forward to mayhem.
“And I remember in Game 6 [of the 1994 conference final, with the Devils leading 3 games to 2], must win for us, in their building, they score twice [in the first period]. Not exactly how I would’ve scripted it. But that second one, [Lemieux] bulled his way in, tipped it past me. I’m furious. And then I see it’s him, and I’m like ‘Of all the guys. Him.’ I was so angry.”
Richter and the Rangers memorably regrouped to win that game 4-2, and, of course, won Game 7 back home in double overtime. Two weeks later, the Rangers won their first championship in 54 years.
“This one was probably the toughest loss for me of all the playoff runs that I had. In the conference final to lose to them, and to know, man, one more goal or one more turnover, we’d have the Cup,” Lemieux told the New York Times years later.
Lemieux also stated in that Times interview how much he relished the opportunity to go head-to-head against Messier, trying to shut down or best neutralize the Rangers legendary captain.
“Playing against ‘Mess’ was, first for me, always an honor. Because as much as I didn’t give him any respect on the ice, I just had the utmost respect for him — I absolutely admired the way he played. I watched him growing up in those great years in Edmonton, and then to be on the same ice, and to have the responsibility to shut him down, was always a great challenge for me.
“He competed so hard. He was tough, and he was good, and he was dirty. Whenever you’d come in for a big hit, he’d lift that elbow and pop you right in the places you didn’t want to be hit. I think I had more watery eyes with Mess than with anybody else.”
Of course, the irony of Lemieux describing Messier that way is not lost on Richter.
“It’s an interesting comparison, those two,” he said. “Plenty of similarities to how they played and competed. I’ll tell you, we know about Mess, but Claude was a tough dude. He didn’t just act tough. He was tough.”
Richter also explained that those Rangers had a secret weapon and super-pest of their own to try and best neutralize Lemieux.
“I remember Esa Tikkanen standing up in the room and saying ‘Don’t worry about him. I’ve got him. Don’t let him take you off your game. I’ll handle him.
“Then he went out and during a scrum ‘Tikk’ kissed [Lemieux] on the nose!”
That anecdote ended with a laugh, as well it should. Even on a day filled with sorrow for a fallen NHL great.
