Lemaire talks 1995 Cup, impact of Lamoriello in Q&A with NHL.com

In NHL.com's Q&A feature called "Sitting Down with …" we talk to key figures in the game, gaining insight into their lives on and off the ice. In this edition, we feature New York Islanders special assignment coach Jacques Lemaire, who will be inducted into the New Jersey Devils Ring of Honor during a pregame ceremony at Prudential Center on Wednesday.

NEWARK, N.J. -- It wasn’t until the last period of the last game of the 1995 Stanley Cup Final that New Jersey Devils coach Jacques Lemaire finally thought to himself, ‘You know, this might be possible.’

Lemaire was coach of the Devils, who swept the Detroit Red Wings in the ’95 Final for the franchise’s first championship.

“Seriously, the last period of the last game was when I thought it possible because, if you remember, Detroit was a heck of a team,” Lemaire said. “All the players they had were unbelievable and it was a shock for all of them when we started to win. The shock probably came after the second win because before that, they probably said, ‘Hey, we'll come back.’ But after that third win, they’re probably saying ‘What the [heck] is happening?’”

Lemaire credits the players and his assistant coaches for the Cup win, but the winningest coach in Devils history was a big part of it as well.

He’ll have a chance to reflect and reminisce about those times and more when he’s inducted into the Devils Ring of Honor during a ceremony before the Devils play the Boston Bruins at Prudential Center on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; MSGSN, NHLN, NESN, TVAS-D).

“There's no doubt I'm looking to it because I'm going to see a lot of people that I haven't seen since I left Jersey,” Lemaire said. “I'm very pleased they thought about me.”

Lemaire will join Dr. John J. McMullen, who brought the Devils to New Jersey from Colorado (inducted Jan. 6, 2017), and former forward Sergei Brylin (Jan. 20, 2024) as Ring of Honor inductees.

He began his coaching career with the Montreal Canadiens, where he won the Stanley Cup eight times as player in his 12 NHL seasons. Over the course of a season-and-a-half, he coached 97 games for Montreal from Feb. 25, 1984, to April 7, 1985.

He joined the Devils at the start of the 1993-94 season and coached five seasons, reaching the Eastern Conference Final in his first season and winning the Stanley Cup in his second season.

He was hired as the first coach of the expansion Minnesota Wild in June 2000 and guided them through the 2008-09 season before returning to the Devils in 2009. He retired after New Jersey lost in the first round of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but returned Dec. 23, 2010, replacing John MacLean after the Devils began the season 9-22-2. They went 29-17-3 after Lemaire took over, including a 20-2-2 run from Jan. 9 to March 6, 2011.

In his two stints with New Jersey, he went 276-166-10 with 57 ties, the 276 regular-season wins and 35 playoff victories each rank first all-time for the Devils. He announced his retirement from coaching for the final time April 10, 2011, and works as a special assignment coach for the New York Islanders.

NHL.com caught up with Lemaire prior to his big day and discussed several topics, including memories of the 1995 championship team, the impact Lou Lamoriello has had on his life, thoughts on the top players in the game today, and more.

Besides winning the Stanley Cup, what’s your fondest memory of 1995 Cup team?

“It's hard to try to explain it … how a team gets ready to win a Cup. In the playoffs, you go through that first round and you never think you're going to reach the Final. You think about it a bit, but it doesn't stick in your mind because it's too far away and there’s too much work to get there and, along the way, there's too many things that have to go right. But after winning two series, there's little things that tell you that we got a chance because we overcame certain difficulties at various times. It’s those moments when you're wondering what's going to happen and then somebody comes from nowhere and does something unexpected and you move on. You win a certain way with everyone on the same page. Everyone knows exactly what to do. Everyone prepares themselves. There are so many things but there's flashes that tell you ‘Hey, it might be our year.’”

Is there a player from that ‘95 team that that doesn't get the recognition he deserves?

“I look at the Crash Line (Mike Peluso, Bobby Holik, Randy McKay); those guys were a huge part. Obviously, everyone talked about Scott Stevens, Martin Brodeur, Ken Daneyko, and Claude Lemieux had his best playoff year ever. But I also think about guys like Bobby Carpenter and Tom Chorske played so well. Shawn Chambers scored a few important goals. When you win a Cup, somebody comes away with goals that you least expect. I always tell the players, when you win the Cup, there are no bad players. They're all great.”

What do you feel was the difference between ‘95 team and the 1994 Devils team (which lost to the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Final)?

“It could be experience, because in ’94 they started to play and believe they could win as a team. In ’95, we went on thinking the same way and everyone knew what they had to do. When there was a mistake, everyone knew why we did it, and they tried to make sure not to repeat it. I think the success in ’95 was just a continuation of what we started to build in ’94.”

When you think of Martin Brodeur what stands out most and did you ever need to pull him aside at any point to assist in making him an even better player?

“If I would have talked to him about goaltending, I would have made him worse (laughing). That's why I didn't want to talk to him. But the approach he had was special. There aren’t a lot of goalies, probably Patrick Roy, who was similar. They’re both guys who wanted to be in net against the top teams. I remember talking to him and saying, ‘You can't play all the games.’ Even when we had back-to-back games, he always wanted both because they were the two top games. He didn’t care about back-to-back; he wanted to play against the top guys. In the room before the game, I've seen a lot of goalies who were extremely nervous … not this guy. That's the confidence he had.”

How were defensemen Scott Stevens and Scott Niedermayer each different in their approach to the game?

“Both of them were certainly a ‘10’ but Scotty and ‘Nieder’ were totally different players in their approach. Nieder was a calm guy, confident, loved the game. He just wanted to go on the ice and play. Scotty was as focused as you can be before the game, thinking of what he's going to do and how he’s going to do it. Nieder didn't seem to me to be like that. He could’ve been but I saw him as loose, a guy with talent that just wanted to play the game. With Scotty, nobody talked to him pregame. You just look at him, how he was focused, and you just stay away.”

What impact has (former Devils general manager and current Islanders GM) Lou Lamoriello had on your life?

“Huge. He has taught me so much. I learned how to be with people, what’s important in winning and how you do it. It’s all based on getting the club better, getting the team better. Everything Lou does, it’s based on winning. When you ask him question, he's going to answer, and he's so honest with his answer. He won't trip you up with his answer but he’s right on par. You ask him how to approach something and he's got a way of talking to people that gives them confidence. That's what he does with all his coaches. I watch him with [Islanders coach Roy] now, and he did that with me and other coaches. That's who he is. He doesn't get in the way but he wants to know what's going on, which is not a crime, right? He's doing his job.”

How important has it been to have such a supportive wife and family knowing you love the game and still want to be a part of it all?

“When I stopped coaching in Montreal (in 1985), my wife never told me. ‘Why don’t you keep going.’ She asked why and when [Lamoriello] approached me about the Devils, I asked her, ‘What do you think going to Jersey,’ and she said, ‘What do you think?’ She talked about the kids and how we were going to do it and was very supportive of my decision. I think the time that was toughest for her was when we went to Switzerland (as player-coach from 1979-81). She came with me and became homesick. It was a different life for her, so we had to stay only two years … I had a three-year contract. But it all turned out great.”

Who do you feel is the best hockey player in the NHL?

“Connor McDavid might be ahead. Alex Ovechkin, even at his age, is phenomenal. He had a tough season last year and everyone thought, even myself, that he’s getting older, slowing down. But he got a shot of something and he's flying. You always got Sidney Crosby but I have to say, these kids. Jack Hughes in Jersey, Connor Bedard in Chicago. There's a lot of young kids that come up, have good skills and natural skating talent, and it just seems natural for them.”

What’s the secret to turning a good team into a Stanley Cup winner?

“Looking at New Jersey, they’re right there, but they could stay there or move up. They could be a good team in the NHL, or they could be a great team. It's the players that will decide. They got to get together, they got to be on the same page, they got to think alike, and they have to have the same goal. It’s tough but it's time that brings you there and the effort to want to be there. That's why you have captains. When you name a captain, he should be a good example for the other guys. He needs to be a guy who will support the coach and the organization. If you get 20 like that, that wouldn't be a bad team. Look, everyone couldn’t be as good as [Stevens] but they can think like him. You don't need to do what Scotty did. You just need to think like him because everything he did was about winning hockey games.”