The New Jersey Devils will be honoring legendary head coach Jacques Lemaire as he will be the third member of the Ring of Honor. In a ceremony that will take place on January 22, 2025, the Devils will honor the coach that brought them to their first Stanley Cup Championship in 1995. Lemaire joins Sergei Brylin and Devils first owner Dr. John McMullen, who are already in the Ring of Honor.
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“Jacques Lemaire played an integral role in establishing the championship culture synonymous with the New Jersey Devils that we still strive for today,” said David Blitzer, Managing Partner, New Jersey Devils said in a press release on Monday. “Jacques was the consummate winner who had the ability to teach his players what it took to get to that next level, and we are proud to name him as the club’s third-ever inductee into our Ring of Honor.”
Lemaire is the winningest coach in Franchise history. He had two stints as Devils head coach. His first came with the Devils came fom 1993-1994 to 1997-98. The Devils made the playoffs every year except one. It was the 1995-96 when they did not make the playoffs after winning the Stanley Cup the previous season. Former New Jersey Devil Tom Chorske, who played for the Ottawa Senators at the time, eliminated the Devils from playoff contention on the final day of the regular season.
During Jacques Lemaire’s first stint in New Jersey he had a record of 199-122-57 and that 57 was not overtime or shootout losses those were ties over 378 regular season contests. That is about .602 winning percentage. In 56 playoff games, he had a record of 34-22. That is a winning percentage of .607.
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The Devils with Hall of Fame players like Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, Martin Brodeur, to go along with the original Devils in Ken Danekyo, John MacLean, and Bruce Driver, took the New York Rangers to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final in 1994. That was the best Conference Final in NHL history. After dropping Games 6 and 7 to the Rangers, Jacques Lemaire taught his squad how to play defense.
While the neutral zone trap had been around going back to the days of the Montreal Canadiens of the 1960s-1970s, where Lemaire played and won Stanley Cups, not to mention began his coaching career, and the New York Islanders of the 1980s, Lemaire perfected it with the Devils. Did players complain they were standing still, yes, but it was effective hockey, especially with a lead. Some said the Neutral Zone Trap set the game backwards, it was just winning hockey that teams still play to this day.
While the Devils were known for a defensive team, they had offensive weapons with Stephane Richer, Claude Lemieux, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as Stanley Cup Playoff MVP in 1995, Neal Broten, Shawn Chambers, Brylin, Brian Rolston, Jim Dowd to go along with the Crash Line of Bobby Holik, Randy McKay, and Mike Peluso.
While the Devils finished first in the Eastern Conference in his final two seasons during his first stint as head coach, they lost to the Rangers in Round 2 in 1997. Remember Lemaire was on the bench when Martin Brodeur scored his first career NHL goal in Game 1 of Round 1 against the Montreal Canadiens in 1997. But the Devils did not get out of the first round in 1998 losing to the Senators.
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During his first tenure, the Devils set a then franchise record in wins and points with 48-23-11 record for 107 points. The Devils also won the William Jennings Trophy for few goals against in the NHL in 1997-98 and Lemaire won the Jack Adams Award for best coach in the NHL in his first season in 1993-194.
After stepping down from the head coaching position with the Devils in May of 1998, Lemaire was named the first coach in Minnesota Wild franchise history in 2000. He guided the Wild to their miracle run to the Western Conference Final in 2003 and won the Jack Adams Award for the second time.
Lemaire returned to the Devils for the 200-10 season as the franchise won another Atlantic Division title with a 48-27-7 record for 103 points. After stepping down in April of 2010, Lemaire came back in December of that year after John MacLean was fired as head coach as the team had a 9-22-2 record. Even though the Devils went on to win 29 games that season, the Devils came up short of making the playoffs despite an NHL best 20-2-2 record from January 9 to March 6, 2011. It would have taken a miracle for the Devils to make the playoffs that year.
The Hockey Hall of Famer has 276 career regular season wins, and 35 postseason victories rank first in franchise history. Jacques Lemaire was not only a great player winning eight Stanley Cups with the Canadiens, but a legendary coach, whose defensive strategy resignants through the NHL today.
