In his two decades in the NHL, Lemieux was a world-class pest and irritant, a clutch scorer and one of the few players to win the Stanley Cup with three different teams.

The Montreal Canadiens selected Lemieux in the second round (No. 26) of the 1983 NHL Draft. He had brief stints with the Canadiens in 1983-84, 1984-85 and 1985-86, but was a regular in the 1986 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when his overtime goal in Game 7 of the Adams Division Finals eliminated the Hartford Whalers. Lemieux scored a team-leading 10 goals in 20 games to help the Canadiens win the Cup.

Lemieux became an NHL regular in 1986-87, when he scored 27 goals. He followed that with 31 goals in 1987-88 and 29 in 1988-89, making him the sixth player in Canadiens history to start his career with three straight seasons of at least 20 goals. He also averaged more than 100 penalty minutes in his first seven seasons from 1986-93.

However, after Lemieux dropped to eight goals and 18 points in 39 games in 1989-90, the Canadiens traded him to the New Jersey Devils on Sept. 4, 1990. He rediscovered his scoring touch in New Jersey, scoring 30 goals in 1990-91 and an NHL career-high 41 in 1991-92. Lemieux was a 30-goal scorer again in 1992-93, when he finished with an NHL career-high 81 points (30 goals, 51 assists).

Lemieux dropped to 18 goals and 44 points in 1993-94, then managed just six goals and 19 points in 45 games in 1994-95. But his postseason magic returned; Lemieux led all scorers with 13 goals and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after the Devils swept the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Final to win their first championship.

Despite his playoff heroics, Lemieux was traded to the Colorado Avalanche on Sept. 3, 1995, as part of a three-team trade. He scored 39 goals for the Avalanche in 1995-96, their first season in Denver after relocating from Quebec, then became the 10th player to win the Cup in consecutive years with different teams when he helped Colorado to its first championship, scoring 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in 19 games.

Lemieux scored 26 goals in 1997-98 and 27 in 1998-99, but early in the 1999-2000 season was traded back to New Jersey. He scored 17 goals in 70 games for the Devils, then had 10 points (four goals, six assists) in 23 playoff games to become a four-time Cup-winner when they defeated the Dallas Stars in a six-game Final. After the season, Lemieux signed with the Phoenix Coyotes as a free agent on Dec. 5, 2000, playing 2 1/2 seasons there before he was traded to Dallas on Jan 16, 2003. Lemieux retired after playing in Switzerland in 2003-04.

However, he returned to hockey in 2008-09 at age 43, playing briefly in China, then signing with Worcester of the American Hockey League and earning an 18-game stint with the San Jose Sharks, though he managed just one assist. He also played one playoff game before retiring for good, finishing his NHL career with 786 points (379 goals, 407 assists) and 1,777 penalty minutes in 1,215 games.

Lemieux had 158 points (78 goals, 80 assists), including 19 game-winning goals, in 234 playoff games, failing to qualify for the postseason once in his final 19 NHL seasons.

NOTES & TRANSACTIONS

• QMJHL Second All-Star Team (1984)
• QMJHL First All-Star Team (1985)
• Traded to New Jersey by Montreal for Sylvain Turgeon, September 4, 1990.
• Traded to NY Islanders by New Jersey for Steve Thomas, October 3, 1995.
• Traded to Colorado by NY Islanders for Wendel Clark, October 3, 1995.
• Traded to New Jersey by Colorado with Colorado's 1st (David Hale) and 2nd (Matt DeMarchi) round picks in 2000 NHL Draft for Brian Rolston and New Jersey's 1st round pick (later traded to Boston, Boston selected Martin Samuelsson) in 2000 NHL Draft, November 3, 1999.
• Signed as a free agent by Phoenix, December 5, 2000.
• Traded to Dallas by Phoenix for Scott Pellerin and Dallas' 4th round pick (Kevin Porter) in 2004 NHL Draft, January 16, 2003.
• Signed as a free agent by Zug (Swiss), February 9, 2004.
• Signed as a free agent by China (ALIH), November 15, 2008.
• Signed as a free agent by Worcester (AHL), November 25, 2008.
• Signed as a free agent by San Jose, December 29, 2008.
• Officially announced his retirement, July 8, 2009.