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No More Mr. Nice Guy
MONTREAL | August 19th, 2010
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Known for his jovial spirit and back-patting of each of his players after a win, Jacques Demers was likely the most affable and fun-loving coach in Canadiens history.
The bench boss responsible for bringing the Habs their last Stanley Cup in 1993, he sure knew how to push his players’ buttons. A textbook player’s coach, Demers was famous for his infectious sunny disposition, but to hear Ed Ronan tell it, getting on his bad side was never a good idea.
“I remember one day before practice Jacques came tearing into the locker room, swearing in French, and I had no idea what was going on,” recalled the former Habs winger. “He was muttering to himself and looked pretty mad. Then the next thing I know, he grabs Paul DiPietro’s equipment and starts whipping it into the Jacuzzi!
“All we could hear in the room was Jacques’ cursing and the sound of Paul’s gear splashing into the tub,” recalled Ronan of that far-from-typical morning at the Forum in 1993. “He must have made like three or four trips grabbing more equipment to throw. The rest of us were just trying not to laugh and figured that Paul was in deep trouble.”
The young center, it seems, had had the nerve to squawk to the media about the lack of ice time afforded to him of late. His normally bubbly head coach had heard all about it and was clearly not impressed.
“With his equipment all wet, Paul obviously didn’t practice and we didn’t even think he was anywhere near the rink. At least we hoped he wasn’t, for his sake!” said Ronan.
Unfortunately for DiPietro, he was indeed on hand to witness his equipment sink to the bottom of the hot tub. Luckily he was in the bathroom when Demers began his tirade, so he wisely chose to remain locked safely in a stall peering through the crack of the door as his coach went to town on his gear.
“It ended up that Paul was like two feet away from Jacques the whole time,” recalled Ronan with a chuckle. “Jacques never found out he was around and they eventually worked things out.”
Much to the delight of the head coach, the next time DiPietro’s equipment would be that soaked, it would come from the champagne that flowed months later, after the forward finished third in team playoff scoring to help lead the Habs to the Stanley Cup.
The bench boss responsible for bringing the Habs their last Stanley Cup in 1993, he sure knew how to push his players’ buttons. A textbook player’s coach, Demers was famous for his infectious sunny disposition, but to hear Ed Ronan tell it, getting on his bad side was never a good idea.
“I remember one day before practice Jacques came tearing into the locker room, swearing in French, and I had no idea what was going on,” recalled the former Habs winger. “He was muttering to himself and looked pretty mad. Then the next thing I know, he grabs Paul DiPietro’s equipment and starts whipping it into the Jacuzzi!
“All we could hear in the room was Jacques’ cursing and the sound of Paul’s gear splashing into the tub,” recalled Ronan of that far-from-typical morning at the Forum in 1993. “He must have made like three or four trips grabbing more equipment to throw. The rest of us were just trying not to laugh and figured that Paul was in deep trouble.”
The young center, it seems, had had the nerve to squawk to the media about the lack of ice time afforded to him of late. His normally bubbly head coach had heard all about it and was clearly not impressed.
“With his equipment all wet, Paul obviously didn’t practice and we didn’t even think he was anywhere near the rink. At least we hoped he wasn’t, for his sake!” said Ronan.
Unfortunately for DiPietro, he was indeed on hand to witness his equipment sink to the bottom of the hot tub. Luckily he was in the bathroom when Demers began his tirade, so he wisely chose to remain locked safely in a stall peering through the crack of the door as his coach went to town on his gear.
“It ended up that Paul was like two feet away from Jacques the whole time,” recalled Ronan with a chuckle. “Jacques never found out he was around and they eventually worked things out.”
Much to the delight of the head coach, the next time DiPietro’s equipment would be that soaked, it would come from the champagne that flowed months later, after the forward finished third in team playoff scoring to help lead the Habs to the Stanley Cup.