#78 - Jacques Lemaire

Jacques Lemaire (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #78)

Adjusted Stats

1967-1968   Mtl*      76 GP   27 goals   24 assists   51 points    0.67 PPG
1968-1969   Mtl*      81 GP   32 goals   38 assists   70 points    0.87 PPG
1969-1970   Mtl        74 GP   37 goals   32 assists   69 points    0.92 PPG
1970-1971   Mtl*      82 GP   29 goals   29 assists   58 points    0.71 PPG
1971-1972   Mtl        81 GP   34 goals   52 assists   85 points    1.06 PPG
1972-1973   Mtl*      81 GP   43 goals   50 assists   94 points    1.16 PPG
1973-1974   Mtl        69 GP   29 goals   38 assists   68 points    0.98 PPG
1974-1975   Mtl        82 GP   33 goals   52 assists   85 points    1.03 PPG
1975-1976   Mtl*      63 GP   18 goals   30 assists   48 points    0.77 PPG
1976-1977   Mtl*      77 GP   32 goals   39 assists   71 points    0.93 PPG
1977-1978   Mtl*      78 GP   34 goals   58 assists   93 points    1.19 PPG
1978-1979   Mtl*      51 GP   22 goals   28 assists   50 points    0.97 PPG

Adjusted Playoff Stats

1967-1968    Mtl*     13 GP   7 goals     6 assists     13 points    1.00 PPG
1968-1969    Mtl*     14 GP   4 goals     2 assists     6 points      0.42 PPG
1970-1971    Mtl*     20 GP   8 goals     9 assists     17 points    0.87 PPG
1971-1972    Mtl       6 GP     2 goals     1 assist       3 points     0.47 PPG
1972-1973    Mtl*     17 GP   6 goals     12 assists   18 points    1.04 PPG
1973-1974    Mtl       6 GP     0 goals     4 assists      4 points     0.65 PPG
1974-1975    Mtl       11 GP   5 goals     6 assists     11 points    1.00 PPG
1975-1976    Mtl*     13 GP   3 goals     3 assists      6 points     0.45 PPG
1976-1977    Mtl*     14 GP   6 goals     11 assists   17 points    1.19 PPG
1977-1978    Mtl*     15 GP   6 goals     8 assists     14 points    0.91 PPG
1978-1979    Mtl*     16 GP   10 goals   11 assists   21 points    1.31 PPG

Career - 895 GP, 370 goals, 470 assists, 842 points, 0.94 PPG
Career-Highs - 43 goals (72-73); 58 assists (77-78); 94 points (72-73); 1.19 PPG (77-78)
Avg. (12 seasons) - 75 GP, 31 goals, 39 assists, 70 points, 0.94 PPG
Peak Avg. (70-78) - 77 GP, 32 goals, 44 assists, 75 points, 0.98 PPG, 6 Cups

Playoff Career - 145 GP, 57 goals, 73 assists, 130 points, 0.90 PPG
Playoff-Highs - 10 goals (78-79); 12 assists (72-73); 21 points (78-79); 1.31 PPG (78-79)

Accolades - None
All-Star Teams - None
8-time Stanley Cup Champion

Jacques Lemaire is so well-known today for his coaching exploits that it's easy to forget his playing career. He was the innovator of the left-wing lock as a coach, better known as "the trap", a defensive system that has been oft-misunderstood but also correctly blamed for the dull hockey that permeated the NHL throughout the late 1990s. His coaching career is phenomenal, but we should not forget that Lemaire's 12-year playing career was hall-of-fame worthy.

He was the #1 center for what is arguably the best team of all time: the 1970s Montreal Canadiens. While Guy Lafleur stole the headlines and electrified the crowd, Lemaire was the defensively responsible one on Lafleur's line who chipped in 70 points and played great two-way hockey. He was also the Habs' best forward on their 1973 championship team, leading the team in scoring with 43 goals and 94 points as the Canadiens transitioned from the Beliveau era to the Lafleur era (Lafleur played in 1973 but hadn't found his scoring touch quite yet).

With Lemaire, as with Cournoyer, there is also the simple fact of his remarkable team success: eight Stanley Cups in just twelve seasons in the post-expansion era, an incredible feat that is perhaps more impressive than the multiple Cups amassed by the Habs' legends of the Original Six era (the Richards, Beliveau). He capped off the 1977 season, perhaps the greatest that any team has enjoyed, by scoring the Stanley Cup winner on a beautiful feed from Lafleur in overtime against the hated Bruins. Of all the legendary moments in Canadiens' history, this one ranks near the top, and it belongs to Lemaire.

Not surprisingly for a center as talented and defensively-responsible as Lemaire was, his career +/- stands as an average of +34 per 82 games played, one of the highest in history for a forward. Somewhat strangely, Lemaire decided to retire at the end of the 1979 season, at the still-young age of 33. This decision, coupled with Dryden's retirement at the same time, effectively ended the Canadiens' dynasty. And interestingly, Lafleur was never quite the same after Lemaire retired...something that often goes unmentioned in appreciations of Lemaire.

If Lemaire had played a few more seasons, he'd have 1100-1200 career points and be more often mentioned as one of the great centers of his era. Instead, he lives on as one of the few people in hockey to enjoy a hall-of-fame caliber career as a player and as a coach. He brought the Devils, my favourite team, to their first Stanley Cup championship. The fact that he did so by putting the hockey world to sleep should not be held against him when determining his place on the list of great Canadiens' centers.