Jacques Gérard Lemaire (born September 7, 1945) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

former

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

forward and head coach who was inducted into the

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

in 1984. He spent his entire twelve-year

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) playing career with the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

(1967–1979) and was a part of eight

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

championship teams in

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

, 1969,

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

and

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. In 2017, Lemaire was named one of the " 100 Greatest NHL Players". Lemaire was an NHL head coach for seventeen seasons with the Canadiens (1983–1985),

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...

(1993–1998, 2009–2011) and

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confer ...

(2000–2009). One of 24 coaches with 600 wins (as of 2025), Lemaire led the Devils to their first Stanley Cup in the 1994–95 season. After retiring at the end of the

2010–11 NHL season The 2010–11 NHL season was the List of NHL seasons, 94th season of operation (93rd Season (sport), season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Boston Bruins defeated the Vancouver Canucks in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Stanley Cup ...

, Lemaire accepted a position as special assignment coach for the Devils. He currently works as a special assignment coach for the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (N ...

, a position he previously held with the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

Career

Playing career

Lemaire is one of only six NHL players to have scored two Stanley Cup-winning goals, achieving the feat in both 1977 and 1979 (The five other players are

Mike Bossy Michael Dean Bossy (January 22, 1957April 15, 2022) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player with the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League. He spent his entire NHL career, which lasted from 1977 to 1987, with the Islanders, and ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

and

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

Bobby Orr Robert Gordon Orr (born March 20, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest players of all time. Orr used his skating speed, scoring, and play-making abilities to revolutionize the ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

and

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

, Henri Richard in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

and

Jean Béliveau Joseph Jean Arthur Béliveau (August 31, 1931 – December 2, 2014) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played parts of 20 seasons with the National Hockey League's (NHL) Montreal Canadiens from 1950 to 1971. Inducted into the Hoc ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

and

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

and

Toe Blake Joseph Hector "Toe" Blake (August 21, 1912 – May 17, 1995) was a Canadian ice hockey Player (game), player and Coach (ice hockey), coach in the National Hockey League (NHL). Blake played in the NHL from 1935 to 1948 with the Montreal Maroons a ...

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

and

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

). One of the two Cup-winners scored by Lemaire came at the 4:32 mark of the first overtime of Game Four in the 1977 Stanley Cup Finals. 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 to become a playing coach in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. In 853 career NHL games, he recorded 366 goals and 469 assists for a total of 835 points. Lemaire learned to execute his slapshot when he was young using a heavy steel puck, making his shot second only to that of

Bobby Hull Robert Marvin Hull (January 3, 1939 – January 30, 2023) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. His blond hair, skating speed, end-to-end rushes, and ability to shoot t ...

for speed and accuracy. In his bestselling book '' The Game'' former Montreal goalie

Ken Dryden Kenneth Wayne Dryden (born August 8, 1947) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender, politician, lawyer, businessman, and author. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. He was ...

described a magical relationship on ice that was developing between Lemaire and

Guy Lafleur Guy Damien Lafleur (September 20, 1951 – April 22, 2022), nicknamed "the Flower" and "Le Démon Blond", was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He was the first player in National Hockey League (NHL) history to score 50 goals in six c ...

, who complemented each other's speed and shooting ability. Lemaire's NHL playing career ended following the 1978–79 season when he surprisingly rejected the Canadiens' contract extension offer of $225,000 for each of five years.Kennedy, Ray. "A little bit of heaven in the Alps," ''Sports Illustrated'', October 22, 1979.
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Coaching career

Lemaire signed a three-year contract as player, coach and general manager of HC Sierre on June 15, 1979. He was paid $75,000 tax-free annually and had absolute control over his contract. "I always wanted to do something reckless, have an adventure, see how other people live, discover something new. Well, that time is now. I've always been interested in coaching, and when this opportunity presented itself, it seemed like the perfect thing," he explained. He made his North American coaching debut in 1981, serving as an assistant coach at SUNY Plattsburgh to future NHL scout Herb Hammond at the NCAA Division III level. Lemaire was head coach of the Canadiens from

–

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

and the

from

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, winning the Stanley Cup in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

for the 11th time, and the

Jack Adams Award The Jack Adams Award is awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) coach "adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success." The league's Coach of the Year award has been presented 51 times to 43 coaches. The winner is select ...

in 1994 and

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

. Lemaire was head coach of the

from June 19,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

until April 11,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, the first head coach of the organization. He also won two more Stanley Cups as assistant general manager with Montreal in 1986 and

. Lemaire is known for his unorthodox coaching style for several reasons: first, he prefers a defensive-minded system, often using a strategy called the ''

neutral zone trap The neutral zone trap (often referred to as simply the trap) is a defensive strategy used in ice hockey to prevent an opposing team from proceeding through the neutral zone (the area between the blue lines) and to force turnovers. Description T ...

''. Second, Lemaire rarely uses permanent lines preferring to use mixed line combinations during games. Third, Lemaire never employed a permanent team captain during his tenure with the Wild, opting to rotate it on a monthly basis amongst the players. Lemaire is also regarded as one of the best teaching coaches – developing young players while working well with veterans. However his emphasis on "defense first" has often been controversial, both inside and outside the dressing room. This, perhaps, has led to some conflict with star players like

Marian Gaborik Marian may refer to: People * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places *Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queensland, a town in Australia * Marian, a village in toe comm ...

(formerly with the Wild) and media criticism. An example was provided by Terry Frei of ESPN.com in an article posted on August 4, 2008:

He emairehelped drag down the entertainment quotient in this league, and despite all the talk about the Wild being a skating team that uses speed and pounces on turnovers, not all the elements of the trap have disappeared from Minnesota's game. You'd think the State of Hockey is going to tire of that at some point, especially if the Wild slide this season and it drives
Marian Gaborik Marian may refer to: People * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places *Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queensland, a town in Australia * Marian, a village in toe comm ...
away next summer.

On one occasion, Lemaire's team was among the top two scoring teams in the NHL. In 1993–1994, the New Jersey Devils team scored the second most goals in the league (306). In June 2009, Lemaire was named assistant coach of Team Canada for the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

in Vancouver, British Columbia. He joined Lindy Ruff and Ken Hitchcock as assistants to head coach

Mike Babcock Mike Babcock (born April 29, 1963) is a Canadian former ice hockey player and coach. He spent parts of eighteen seasons as a head coach in the National Hockey League (NHL), beginning when he was named head coach of the Anaheim Ducks, Mighty Duck ...

and helped Team Canada to the gold medal. On July 13, 2009, exactly two years after Brent Sutter had been introduced as coach of the Devils, Lemaire returned to the head coaching position for the Devils. On October 8, 2009, Lemaire got his 200th win with the New Jersey Devils and first of the

2009–10 NHL season The 2009–10 NHL season was the 93rd season of operation (92nd season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). It ran from October 1, 2009—including four games in Europe on October 2 and 3—until April 11, 2010, with the 2010 Stanley C ...

. Lemaire announced his retirement as a head coach in the NHL on April 26, 2010. However, on December 23, 2010, after Devils head coach John MacLean was fired after 33 games, Lemaire came out of retirement to coach once again for the Devils and led a charge that took the team from the bottom of league standings into contention for a playoff position before fading in the final few weeks. On February 10, 2011, Lemaire achieved his 600th regular-season win after

Ilya Kovalchuk Ilya Valeryevich Kovalchuk (; born 15 April 1983) is a Russian former professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), winger. He played for the Atlanta Thrashers, New Jersey Devils, Los Angeles Kings, Montreal Canadiens, and Washington Capitals in ...

scored in overtime to win the game for New Jersey against Toronto 2 – 1. Lemaire became only the eighth coach in NHL history to achieve this feat. On April 10, 2011 Lemaire announced his permanent retirement from the Devils. On August 14, 2015, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced they had hired Lemaire as a special assignment coach. On September 14, 2018, Lemaire would follow Lou Lamoriello to the New York Islanders, assuming the role of Special Assignment Coach. Lemaire was inducted into the New Jersey Devils Ring of Honor on January 22, 2025.

Trivia

Lemaire is the uncle of former Stars, Wild, and Bruins goaltender Manny Fernandez. There is a hockey arena in LaSalle, Quebec named after Lemaire.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lemaire, Jacques 1945 births Living people Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey centres Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Houston Apollos players Ice hockey people from Montreal Jack Adams Award winners Longueuil Chevaliers coaches Minnesota Wild coaches Montreal Canadiens coaches Montreal Canadiens executives Montreal Canadiens players Montreal Junior Canadiens players New Jersey Devils coaches People from LaSalle, Quebec Quebec Aces (AHL) players Stanley Cup champions Stanley Cup championship–winning head coaches Toronto Maple Leafs coaches New York Islanders coaches 20th-century Canadian sportsmen