Montreal Canadiens Top 5 All Time Coaches: #5 Jacques Demers

The Montreal Canadiens have entered the quietest time on the calendar. While there is little to look forward to in the month of August, we decided to take a look back at some of the greatest coaches in franchise history. We begin the countdown of the five best coaches in Canadiens history with the fifth ranked head coach, Jacques Demers.

The Montreal Canadiens have won more Stanley Cups that any other team in NHL history. They have a long history of unprecedented success in the league and a plethora of star players at every position.

They have also had ten different head coaches win Stanley Cups with the team. Narrowing down that terrific list to just five is difficult, but there are a handful that shine above the rest.

Jacques Demers only stood behind the bench in Montreal for three full seasons but he made a tremendous impact in that time. He arrived in the summer of 1992, replacing Pat Burns who had an impressive stint as the Canadiens head coach as well. Filling the shoes of Burns would not be easy, but Demers immediately proved to be up to the test.

His first season with the Canadiens saw the team play a more open offensive style, and it resulted in 326 goals scored which ranked 9th in an incredibly high scoring season in the NHL. They also allowed 280 goals which was seventh best in the league. They finished with a 48-30-6 record which gave them 102 points, sixth best in the NHL.

The Canadiens playoff run started out with two consecutive losses to the Quebec Nordiques, but they would go on to win the next four games of that first round series before quickly dispatching the Buffalo Sabres in four game and the New York Islanders in five game to reach the Stanley Cup Final.

The 1993 Canadiens are best known for winning ten consecutive overtime games in the postseason. A lot of that credit could go to Patrick Roy in goal, but it takes a special head coach to get the right guys on the ice and keep the locker room calm, cool and collected enough to win ten playoff overtime games in a row.

Demers was probably best known for calling a controversial illegal curve measurement against Los Angeles Kings defenseman Marty McSorley in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. With the Kings leading the series 1-0, and up by a goal with less than two minutes to play in Game 2, Demers made the gutsy call to measure McSorley’s stick for an illegal curve. If it was legal, the Canadiens would get a delay of game penalty and surely go down 2-0 in the series.

It was not legal, and the Canadiens went to the power play with 1:45 to play in the game. Eric Desjardins would hammer home a slapper from the point to tie the game, and he completed the hat trick in overtime to turn the tide in the series. The Canadiens won the Stanley Cup on Montreal Forum ice for the final time in Game 5.

Demers would remain behind the bench for the 1993-94 season and the Habs would finish with a 41-29-14 record, giving them 96 points on the season. They went to Game 7 in the opening round with the Boston Bruins, but lost with Roy injured and top pairing defenseman Mathieu Schneider also missing most of the series.

The lockout shortened 1995 season was an odd one in Montreal as Desjardins, Schneider, John LeClair, and Kirk Muller were all traded as the team moved on from its top defense pairing, number one center and a blossoming power winger. As a result the team finished with a 18-23-7 record and missed the playoffs. When they began the following season 0-4-0 Demers was fired.

In total, he coached just over three seasons with the Canadiens, amassing a 107-86-27 record in that time, and also having a record of 19-7 in his 26 playoff games as head coach.

He had a huge impact on the team that won the last Stanley Cup in Canadiens history and that is why he is one of the top five head coaches to ever step behind the bench in Montreal.

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