“Obviously Jacques Lemaire has a wealth of experience”.
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On Friday, the Leafs announced the seemingly inevitable: Lamoriello imported a Devils retread to the Leafs, as the 70-year-old Lemaire will now be a special assignments coach for the Toronto brain trust.
It wasn’t immediately clear what Lemaire’s role will be on coach Mike Babcock’s staff, as he joins assistants D.J. Smith, Jim Hiller and Andrew Brewer and goaltending coach Steve Briere. Lemaire also has a relationship with new Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock from serving as one of his assistants on the 2010 Canadian Olympic team, and the two have kept in touch since then.
Lemaire has 11 Stanley Cup rings – eight from his playing days, two as an assistant GM and once as a coach.
Lemaire, who turns 70 in September, most recently held the same position with the Devils but had not spoken with new general manager Ray Shero about his future with the team.
Now Toronto has him.
Martin Brodeur wanted to join the Devils’ front office after his playing career had come to an end last year, but the future Hall of Famer suggested that door may have closed for the foreseeable future. “I haven’t had the chance to talk to the new people [with the Devils]”.
Perhaps most impressive is his work with Minnesota; he guided the expansion Wild to the third round of the playoffs in just their third season and has a career 0.563 points percentage despite spending some tough seasons with the new National Hockey League franchise.
Lamoriello shrugged off his critics, sometimes calling the trap “a puck retrieval system”, but there was no arguing its results during the Devils’ long run as contenders.
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The duo will have growing pains working together with the Maple Leafs roster before winning the team’s first Stanley Cup since 1967.
