Former NHL coach Jacques Demers
In December 1979, I traveled to Quebec City for the first time. The Nordiques had been one of the four former World Hockey Association teams admitted to the NHL for that season, and the Rockies played at Quebec two days after beating the Bruins in coach Don Cherry’s triumphant return to Boston.
After the game – and after eating about 12 of the Colisee’s famous toasted hot dogs – I went into the office of Nordiques coach Jacques Demers, who was seated at his desk and talking about the game in French with a couple of Quebec writers. (In wise preparation for covering hockey, I had taken Spanish and Norwegian in college.) He nodded, continued in French, finished his response and then asked me: “What can I do for you?”
And we talked for a few minutes. I remember how impressed I was that he spoke English so effortlessly and well, and how courteous he was to ask in English if I needed anything.
Flash forward: Demers ended up also coaching St. Louis, Detroit, Tampa Bay and Montreal. He was with the Canadiens when, with Patrick Roy giving Montreal some of the best playoff goaltending ever, they won the Stanley Cup in 1993. He also has served as the Lightning’s general manager and has done considerable work in broadcasting. He now is with RDS, Canada’s French-language sports network. He remains an affable ambassador for the sport – in two languages.
But now this: Demers, who dropped out of school after eighth grade, says in a newly released book, “Jacques Demers: En Toutes Lettres,” that he never learned to read or write. Much of his professional life involved bluffing and getting a lot of help from folks around him who didn’t catch on.
