Lemaire Returns to Montreal as Houle Consultant

Former New Jersey Devil coach Jacques Lemaire has rejoined the Montreal Canadiens as a consultant to General Manager Rejean Houle.

“Jacques will be a real asset to our team,” Houle said at a news conference before the Canadiens’ game against the Maple Leafs on Saturday night.

“His knowledge of the league combined with his experience of coaching will help me on a daily basis to get a stronger evaluation of our own personnel as well as a better evaluation of the current and future players of the NHL.”

Lemaire, 53, who signed a three-year deal with Montreal, played his entire 12-year career with the Canadiens, winning eight Stanley Cups. He coached the team for the last 17 games of the 1983-84 season and the entire 1984-85 season, before moving to the front office. Montreal won two more Cups, in 1986 and 1993, while Lemaire was an assistant general manager.

He joined the Devils in 1993 and was named the league’s coach of the year in 1994, before leading the club to its only championship, that year.

Lemaire resigned at the end of the 1997-98 season after the Devils were ousted in the first round of the playoffs after winning the Atlantic Division with a 48-23-11 record.

With two years remaining on his contract, Lemaire had been serving as a scout with the Devils this season.

“The relationship that Jacques had with the organization and with me personally has been outstanding,” New Jersey General Manager Lou Lamoriello said. “The five years he has been here have been just tremendous.”

Houle said his team has to deal with major decisions in the near future and Lemaire, who will spend most of his time outside Montreal, will be “a great asset around the team.”

Going into their game against the Maple Leafs, the Canadiens were on an 11-game winless streak (0-6-5), the club’s longest since 1935-36, and were last in the Northeast Division.

“I’ve been watching the team, mostly on TV, and what I see is simple and hard to explain at the same time,” Lemaire told reporters outside the Canadien dressing room. “It is a matter of confidence.

“This team lacks confidence. There are good players here, lots of talent, but even if you have talent you can’t succeed without confidence.”