The most annoying New York Rangers of all-time
#5 Brendan Lemieux
What else to expect from the son of Claude, one of the biggest agitators in NHL history? His father made a living out of doling out cheap shot and goading opponents into penalties.
He scored some timely goals and didn’t shy away from hits, but he’ll always be remembered for checking Detroit’s Kris Draper face-first into the boards in the 1996 Western Conference Finals. Lemieux got a five-minor major and a two-game suspension. Draper received a concussion, broken jaw, broken nose and broken cheek bone.
Like father, like son.
This is Brendan Lemieux’ third year in the NHL and he’s already facing a second suspension for yet another dangerous hit.
He’s waiting for the NHL to decide how many games he’ll be suspended for his dangerous hit on Colorado’s Joonas Donskoi on March 11. In November 2018 when with the Winnipeg Jets, Lemieux was suspended two games for a hit to the head of the Panthers’ Vincent Trocheck.
Another player who’d like a piece of Lemieux is Anaheim Ducks’ defenseman Erik Gudbranson, who was goaded into dropping his gloves by Lemieux only to have the Rangers’ antagonist skate away. Both got minors for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The younger Lemieux also caused a stir on Twitter last weekend with his since-deleted endorsement of teammate Tony DeAngelo’s tweet announcing his new podcast, “Watch Your Tone.”
Lemieux tweeted: “This podcast is going to push the ‘Politically Correct’ boundary’s that surround current NHL players and I can’t wait.”
The Rangers retweeted DeAngelo’s announcement but deleted it after Lemieux made his endorsement, raising the eyebrows of many of their followers on Twitter, as well as those of ESPN hockey reporter Greg Wyshynski who tweeted that the team is not affiliated with the defenseman’s podcast.
DeAngelo responded: “No one is affiliated with it besides me Greg. There will be no politics involved. And my co host isn’t a current NHL player. I am doing it out of the love of hockey & sports. There should be NO controversy at all and there will be NO controversy. Thanks to all who support! https://t.co/amM0n8NFB9
— Tony DeAngelo (@TonyDee07) May 30, 2020
Next up, a “Car Bomb” goes off in Philadelphia.