NHL commissioner Gary Bettman met with the media before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Tuesday, June 2, using the time to pay tribute to former player Claude Lemieux and reporter Jessi Pierce.
“It’s appropriate to reflect on the people we’ve lost — those who thrilled us, and those who contributed to building the game we all love,” Bettman, 74, told reporters. “Tonight, I’d like to mention, in particular, two people: Claude Lemieux, and Jessi Pierce.”
Lemieux, who won four Stanley Cup championships across 21 NHL seasons, died at age 60 on Thursday, May 28, by apparent suicide. Pierce and her three children died in a house fire on March 21. She was 37.
“Claude Lemieux was one of the greatest big time game performers in the history of hockey,” Bettman continued. “[The] Stanley Cup Final is where he shined the brightest. His flame extinguished far too soon last week. We are terribly saddened and we mourn his passing.”
Lemieux died just days after serving as torch bearer for the Montreal Canadiens before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Carolina Hurricanes. He played five seasons in Montreal, winning the 1986 Stanley Cup with the franchise.
Pierce spent 10 seasons as a Minnesota Wild beat writer for NHL.com before her death in the middle of the 2025-26 season. Her husband, Mike Hinrichs, was out of town when the fire occurred.
“Jessi Pierce chronicled hockey with a professionalism and passion that could only come from somebody who truly cared for and adored the game,” Bettman said. “The tragic passing of Jessi and her three young two months ago leaves a hole in our hearts and on our sport that cannot be filled.”
A search warrant, released on March 25, revealed that firefighters arrived at the scene to see the house “fully engulfed” with “flames shooting up dozens of feet in the air.” The fire was apparently so intense that they were initially unable to gain entry into the home. The bodies of Pierce and her three children, sons Hudson, 8, and Cayden, 6, and daughter Avery, 4, were found “in the main living area at the front of the address near the entryway.”
The fire’s cause has still not been determined but the White Bear Lake Fire Department has ruled out arson.
The Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights will square off in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
