MONTREAL -- Jacques Demers, who coached NHL teams in Detroit, St. Louis and Quebec, received one of hockey's most prestgious jobs Thursday when he was named coach of the Montreal Canadiens.
One of the most respected -- and well-traveled -- coaches in hockey, Demers succeeds Pat Burns, who last month was appointed coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Demers, 47, agreed to a three-year contract. He is the 21st coach in the storied history of the Canadiens.
'To be named head coach of the Montreal Canadiens, certainly is the most important of my coaching career,' Demers said. 'Being a Montrealer who worked in the hockey field for so long, the position of head coach of the Montreal Canadiens represents for me a dream which finally comes true.'
Demers is the only NHL coach to have twice been named Coach of the Year -- in 1987 and 1988 with the Red Wings. He was fired by Detroit two years ago, and has been working with the Quebec Nordiques as a radio analyst. He had to get out of a five-year radio contract he signed only last week to coach the Canadiens.
Demers joins a team whose fans are among the NHL's most demanding, and three consecutive years of playoff losses to Boston have frustrated fans and team officials.
'I'm not going into this job with my eyes shut,' Demers said at a news conference. 'I know it's going to be tough. I know the pressure with the media. But I was journalist the past two years myself, working radio and television and I understand how the media works. They are not your enemy, they have a job to do and the most important thing I have to do is win hockey games.'
To get the Canadiens' job, Demers beat out Michel bergeron, the former Quebec and New York Rangers' coach, and Andre Boudrias, an assistant to Montreal General Manager Serge Savard. Bergeron, who had a heart attack in November 1990, said on his radio show Wednesday the Montreal team doctors considered his health shaky.
'The choice of head coach was difficult,' Savard said. 'Uunlike in the past, we went outside the organization to find our new coach.'
Demers coached Quebec in its inaugural NHL season of 1979-80. He was the Blues' coach from 1983-86, leading St. Louis to one Norris Division crown. Demers took the Red Wings to three straight Norris Division titles during his 1986-90 tenure, but after a 28-38-14 season in 1989-90 he was replaced.
The Red Wings advanced to the the Campbell Conference finals twice in his four years. Demers' overall regular-season NHL record is 268-286-86 (.486). He began his coaching career in the World Hockey Association with Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Quebec.
Burns, who had the longest tenure of any NHL coach when he resigned, was the Canadiens' coach for four years. He led them to two Adams Division crowns and to the Stanley Cup finals his first year. Montreal won the division this year with a 41-28-11 record and again had the best defense in the league, but was swept by Boston in the second round of the playoffs.
