{"id":849,"date":"2026-05-30T22:09:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T22:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=849"},"modified":"2026-05-30T22:09:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T22:09:37","slug":"claude-lemieux-was-funny-salty-and-refreshingly-honest-and-he-will-be-greatly-missed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=849","title":{"rendered":"Claude Lemieux was funny, salty and refreshingly honest \u2014 and he will be greatly missed"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The phone rang. My editor was not much for small talk. \u201cYou\u2019ve been looking forward to covering the Knicks in the playoffs, right?\u201d he asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Exclusive | Extent of Mitchell Robinson\u2019s hand injury revealed as Knicks hope center suits up for NBA Finals<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAbsoutely,\u201d I said. I was 33, just cutting my teeth as a full-time sports columnist at the Newark Star-Ledger. Basketball was my game, my bag. Damn right I was looking forward to covering the Knicks in the 2000 playoffs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re on the Devils,\u201d he told me. I started to protest. He cut me off. \u201cSimple geography,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re a Jersey paper. You\u2019re a Jersey columnist. They\u2019re Jersey\u2019s team.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Frederik Andersen gets emotional on ice after death of his agent Claude Lemieux<\/a><\/p>\n

And as so often happens, out of the dust of disappointment rose one of my favorite experiences covering a team. Sixty-one days, 59 columns on the Devils, all the way to the Stanley Cup in Dallas. The players were terrific. The access was glorious. The company was superb \u2014 it was during those playoffs I first became friends with the great Larry Brooks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Wild street fight between two women leaves one bruised and bloodied<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I got to spend a lot of time around Pepe. That\u2019s what teammates called Claude Lemieux his whole career, a standard dressing room joke.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-open-mike"],"yoast_head":"\nClaude Lemieux was funny, salty and refreshingly honest \u2014 and he will be greatly missed - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=849\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Claude Lemieux was funny, salty and refreshingly honest \u2014 and he will be greatly missed - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I got to spend a lot of time around Pepe. 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