Jacques Lemaire

Jacques Lemaire
Position	Centre
Height Weight	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 180 lb (82 kg)
Teams	Montreal Canadiens
Nationality	Canadian
Born	September 7, 1945, Ville Lasalle, PQ, CAN
Pro Career	1967 – 1979
Hall of Fame, 1984

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.

Career

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.

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1963–64	Montreal Junior Canadiens	OHA		42	25	30	55	0		0	0	0	0	0
1964–65	Quebec Aces	AHL		1	0	0	0	0		--	--	--	--	--
1964–65	Montreal Junior Canadiens	OHA		56	25	47	72	0		0	0	0	0	0
1965–66	Montreal Junior Canadiens	OHA		48	41	52	93	69		0	0	0	0	0
1966–67	Houston Apollos	CPHL		69	19	30	49	19		6	0	1	1	0
1967–68	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		69	22	20	42	16		13	7	6	13	6
1968–69	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		75	29	34	63	29		14	4	2	6	6
1969–70	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		69	32	28	60	16		--	--	--	--	--
1970–71	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		78	28	28	56	18		20	9	10	19	17
1971–72	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		77	32	49	81	26		6	2	1	3	2
1972–73	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		77	44	51	95	16		17	7	13	20	2
1973–74	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		66	29	38	67	10		6	0	4	4	2
1974–75	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		80	36	56	92	20		11	5	7	12	4
1975–76	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		61	20	32	52	20		13	3	3	6	2
1976–77	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		75	34	41	75	22		14	7	12	19	6
1977–78	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		76	36	61	97	14		15	6	8	14	10
1978–79	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		50	24	31	55	10		16	11	12	23	6
12 Seasons	NHL total			853	366	469	835	217		145	61	78	139	63

Coaching record

Team	Year	Regular season							Post season
		G	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	Finish	Result
MTL	1983–84	17	7	10	0	-	(75)	4th in Adams	Lost in Conf. champ
MTL	1984–85	80	41	27	12	-	94	1st in Adams	Lost in second round
NJ	1993–94	84	47	25	12	-	106	2nd in Atlantic	Lost in Conf. champ
NJ	1994–95	48	22	18	8	-	52	2nd in Atlantic	Won Stanley Cup
NJ	1995–96	82	37	33	12	-	86	6th in Atlantic	Missed playoffs
NJ	1996–97	82	45	23	14	-	104	1st in Atlantic	Lost in second round
NJ	1997–98	82	48	23	11	-	107	1st in Atlantic	Lost in first round
MIN	2000–01	82	25	39	13	5	68	5th in Northwest	Missed playoffs
MIN	2001–02	82	26	35	12	9	73	5th in Northwest	Missed playoffs
MIN	2002–03	82	42	29	10	1	95	3rd in Northwest	Lost in Conf. champ
MIN	2003–04	82	30	29	20	3	83	5th in Northwest	Missed playoffs
MIN	2005–06	82	38	36	-	8	84	5th in Northwest	Missed playoffs
MIN	2006–07	82	48	26	-	8	104	2nd in Northwest	Lost in first round
MIN	2007–08	82	44	28	-	10	98	1st in Northwest	Lost in first round
MIN	2008–09	82	40	33	-	9	89	3rd in Northwest	Missed playoffs (stepped down at the end of the season)
Total		1131	540	414	124	53

Preceded by Bob Berry	Head coach of the Montreal Canadiens 1984–1985	Succeeded by Jean Perron
Preceded by Herb Brooks	Head coach of the New Jersey Devils 1993–1998	Succeeded by Robbie Ftorek
Preceded by Pat Burns	Winner of the Jack Adams Award 1994	Succeeded by Marc Crawford
Preceded by first coach	Head coach of the Minnesota Wild 2000-2009	Succeeded by Todd Richards
Preceded by Bob Francis	Winner of the Jack Adams Award 2003	Succeeded by John Tortorella