rest - http://www.denverpost.com/avalanche/...vs-claudes-kidBrendan Lemieux's rise to the NHL began when he was 3 months old, when he sat inside the Stanley Cup after his father raised it. It was June 1996, and Claude Lemieux had helped the Avalanche capture the Cup in the franchise's first season in Denver.
Eighteen years later, Brendan Lemieux — a nephew of sorts to Avs brass Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy, Claude's teammates in Denver from 1995-99 — is a candidate to become the Avs' first-round selection in the 2014 draft. Sakic and Roy won't pick Lemieux at No. 23 because of their strong ties to his family, or because Brendan was born in Denver, but they undoubtedly could use a player of his ilk.
Brendan is built like his father, emotionally and physically, and Claude Lemieux did just about everything in his 20-year NHL career that ended in 2009 at age 43. The four-time Stanley Cup winner would shoot from anywhere, throw his body at anyone and chirp with the best of them. He had 379 career NHL goals and 1,777 penalty minutes to prove it.