Former Canadiens Stanley Cup winner Lyle Odelein passes away at 58

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that sources said he suffered a heart attack overnight Friday.

The Quill Lake, Saskatchewan native was a seventh-round pick, 141st overall, by Montreal in 1986. He went on to build a 16-season NHL career that spanned eight franchises: Montreal, New Jersey, Phoenix, Columbus, Chicago, Dallas, Florida and Pittsburgh.

Odelein suited up in 1,056 NHL games and finished with 50 goals and 202 assists for 252 points.

Physical play defined him. He piled up 2,316 penalty minutes, a total that ranks 30th in league history, and he dropped the gloves 184 times.

He was more than an enforcer, though. His best offensive season came in 1993-94, when he scored 11 goals and added 29 assists for 40 points in 79 games with the Canadiens.

A year earlier, he posted a plus-35 rating, then played all 20 playoff games during Montreal's run to the 1993 Stanley Cup, finishing with six points and a plus-9.

Odelein later became the first captain in Columbus Blue Jackets history, leading the expansion club through its opening seasons in 2000-01 and 2001-02. He closed his career in Pittsburgh in 2005-06, where he shared the ice with rookie Sidney Crosby.

His toughest battle came away from the rink. In 2018, Odelein fell critically ill, slipped into a coma and was diagnosed with critical illness polyneuropathy.

He underwent a heart valve, liver and kidney transplant, and his survival was widely called a medical miracle.

That resilience matched the way he played. Fans remember a defender who protected his teammates, answered the bell every night and never backed down.

For Canadiens supporters, he remains a proud member of the club that last brought the Cup to Montreal.

Further details on arrangements have not been confirmed, and tributes from across the hockey world are sure to follow for a player who gave everything he had.

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