Michel Bergeron, legendary figure in Quebec hockey and former head coach of the Quebec Nordiques, recently shared poignant confidences during an interview with Dave Morissette and Jérémie Rainville on 98.5 FM.
“I made a lot of mistakes during all these years. I brought defeat home” he admitted.
“Monumental mistakes, both in my work and in my personal life. I neglected my family.”
Michel felt a wave of nostalgia thinking back to their eventful lives and the sacrifices they had to make, notably the numerous moves from Trois-Rivières to Quebec, then to New York, and back to Quebec, before ending up in Montreal and Sainte-Agathe.
Michel had four children: Anick, from his first marriage, Francis and Sophie, children of his wife Michelle, and Karine, their shared daughter.
"It is obvious that I have neglected them," he admitted.
“In the winter, I was busy with my work, and in the summer, I played a lot of golf with my friends.” Michelle, his pillar, played a crucial role in his career. “She did everything,” he said admiringly.
“She took care of buying houses, putting the kids to school, everything.”
The coaching profession has often been difficult to reconcile with family life. Michel’s children had to learn to live with the criticism and insults linked to their father’s performances.
“When the Nordiques lost, it was their father’s fault,” he remembers. His daughter Sophie described this period as both glamorous and uncompromising.
“It seems like someone is watching you all the time.”
Michelle, who has been here for 47 years and married to Michel since 1978, has been a limitless source of support.
“I wonder if I would have made the same decisions if she hadn’t been by my side,” he confided.
“She never missed a match, even when it was difficult.”
Michelle often had to manage daily challenges alone, especially during their stay in New York, where the children did not speak English.
“When I lost, it was a tragedy, and I often heard Michelle telling the kids not to make noise, because the Nordiques or the Rangers had lost.”
Michel Bergeron is ashamed. He wants to ask his wife for forgiveness. He feels that he has left her alone. She took care of everything, but in the end, she had no say in anything. Bergeron is heartbroken to feel that he used his wife as a silent servant.
“Without her, I wouldn’t have done a third of what I did. She took charge of everything: selling the house, buying the next one, taking care of the children and their school. When we built the house in Lorraine, I chose everything. It also suited me; we didn’t persist, I could do what I wanted! »
And above all…she was worried about the Tiger’s health…
“She didn’t like the nickname Tiger. My wife often worried that my anger was affecting her health. »
In the end, she was right, considering how much trouble Bergeron had with his heart. He can count himself lucky to be alive.
“When they put a pacemaker on me, my first question to the doctor was whether I was going to be able to play golf. I wasn’t thinking about my health.”
“When Serge Savard refused to give me the position of coach (Jacques Demers got the position), I was just thinking about my disappointments and not about my heart.”
Michel admits today that he would have liked to do more things outside of hockey.
"We didn’t do a lot of traveling," he said regretfully. However, he consoles himself by seeing his children succeed and accept the life they have led.
As a grandfather of seven grandchildren, he finds comfort and pleasure in spending time with them and it is a way of catching up. “It’s always a party in the village,” he said laughing.
The deaths of Guy Lafleur and Mike Bossy deeply affected Michel.
“I think about Guy and Mike all the time,” he said. “
“During Guy and Mike’s funeral, I saw the sadness of Lucie and Lise. They had just lost their soul mate. It’s admirable and it had an impact on me.”
Michel keeps precious memories of his friends, recalling Guy’s joie de vivre and his fighting spirit. Bergeron just turned 78 years old. And look at life with nostalgia.
Michel Bergeron, despite the ups and downs, looks back on his career and his life with pride filled with regrets. This interview offers an intimate look at this passionate man, revealing the complexity of a life dedicated to hockey while juggling the realities of the family life he neglected.
“I know what I did, and I wish it was better. We didn’t do a lot of things outside of hockey, not a lot of traveling. I regret it today, but at the time, I didn’t deprive myself of doing what I loved. »
At least today we feel zen…at times…
“I was hired in Trois-Rivières in 1974; Hockey has been my livelihood for 50 years. Today, TVA treats me well. I’m happy when I see my grandchildren, there’s always a party in the village, and we see the little ones more often. We go to a restaurant, we have fun. »
Michel Bergeron will always be a man with a heart as big as the earth. A heart…filled with regrets…
