Our Full Celebrity Roster
Jacques Lemaire
Biography
One of the best two-way players, Jacques Lemaire (HHOF ’84) had a slap shot like a missile. A heroic play-off player, he scored two Cup-winning goals: against Boston in 1977 and against the Rangers in 1979. He won eight Stanley Cups with the Canadiens and was an all-star twice. After retirement, he coached in Europe and then in the NCAA and Quebec Juniors. He became Montreal’s head coach in 1984 and guided Montreal to the conference finals, picking up the Jack Adams trophy in the process. Moving into the front office after the next season, he stayed for nine years until moving to New Jersey as head coach. Over his five seasons behind the Devils’ bench, he formed his team’s strategy around the “trap”, winning the Cup in 1995 and setting the NHL’s playing blueprint for the next decade. He would go on and coach the Minnesota Wild from 2000 to 2009 before returning to the Devils, with whom he retired with at the end of the 2011 season. Currently, Jacques is a special assignment coach with the Devils.