Jacques Lemaire

Jacques Gerard Lemaire (born September 7, 1945, in Ville Lasalle, Quebec) is a former centre and former coach of the Minnesota Wild in the National Hockey League.

Playing Career
Playing his entire NHL career with the Montreal Canadiens, Lemaire won the Stanley Cup a remarkable eight times 1968, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979. He is one of only six players to have scored two Stanley Cup winning goals, achieving the feat in both 1977 and 1979. (The five other players are Mike Bossy in 1982 and 1983, Bobby Orr in 1970 and 1972, Henri Richard in 1966 and 1971, Jean Béliveau in 1960 and 1965 and Toe Blake in 1944 and 1946.) A model of consistency, Lemaire scored at least 20 goals in each of his 12 seasons. He retired from the NHL after the 1978–79 season. In 853 career NHL games, he recorded 366 goals and 469 assists for a total of 835 points.He is also probably one of the best players never to have been an All Star.

He also won two more Stanley Cups as assistant general manager with Montreal in 1986 and 1993.

Coaching Career
After retiring as a player in 1979, Lemaire traveled to Switzerland to begin a career in coaching. Lemaire was head coach of the Canadiens from 1983–1985 and the New Jersey Devils from 1993 to 1998, winning the Stanley Cup in 1995 for 11th time, and the Jack Adams Award in 1994 and 2003. Lemaire was head coach of the Minnesota Wild from June 19, 2000 until April 11, 2009, the first head coach of the organization.

Lemaire is known to be an unorthodox NHL hockey coach for several reasons. First, he plays a defensive-minded hockey system often using a strategy called the neutral zone trap, Lemaire rarely posts permanent lines and is known to shift players up and down lines, often within games. Moreover, unique to NHL teams, the Wild under Lemaire's tenure has never named a permanent team captain, choosing instead to rotate the captaincy between players on a month-to-month basis.

Lemaire is also known to be one of the best coaches for working with and meshing both young players and veterans. He spends much time in evolving young rookies to reach potential and demands adaptation from veterans to perfect his hockey system.

Lemaire is the uncle of Boston Bruins goaltender and former Wild player, Manny Fernandez.

There is a hockey arena in Ville Lasalle named after Lemaire.