The New Jersey Devils will honor one of their greatest coaches on January 22.
The team announced that Jacques Lemaire, the winningest head coach in franchise history and head coach of the 1995 Stanley Cup championship team, will be added to the team’s Ring of Honor. the team during a pre-game ceremony on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, when the team hosts the Boston Bruins.
Lemaire will be the third member of the club to receive this distinction, joining Doctor John J. McMullen, inducted on January 6, 2017, and Sergei Brylin, inducted on January 20, 2024. The Quebecer was informed of the news during a call surprise from Martin Brodeur and Brylin.
Lemaire signed 276 victories in 509 games behind the team’s bench. He won a Stanley Cup in 1994-95 and the Jack Adams Trophy in 1993-94, his first as Devils driver.
After an eight-season stint with the Minnesota Wild, during which he won another Jack Adams Trophy, Lemaire returned to the Devils helm in 2009-10. He announced his retirement at the end of the season, but finally returned to lend a hand to the organization in December 2010.
After starting the season with a 9–22–2 record, Lemaire took over for John MacLean and led the team to a 29-17-3 record to finish the regular season. He finally announced his retirement for good in 2011.
Former glory of the Montreal Canadiens, he won eight Stanley Cups with the CH as a player and two others as assistant to the general manager. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984.
“Jacques Lemaire played an essential role in establishing the championship culture that characterizes the New Jersey Devils and that we still aspire to today,” said David Blitzer, a member of the Devils’ senior management team.
“Jacques was a consummate winner who had the ability to teach his players what it took to reach the next level, and we are proud to name him as the third member of the team’s Ring of Honor.
