Hon. Chantal Petitclerc: Honourable senators, 30 years ago, the Montreal Canadiens were just a few minutes away from winning the Stanley Cup and you could almost cut the adrenaline on the ice with a knife.

They were an underdog team with no big stars, except for Patrick Roy. However, what the Montreal Canadiens had was motivated players. Former Montreal Canadien Stéphan Lebeau said, “A good team with a lot of depth can sometimes become a champion team.”

Honourable senators, it takes talent to become a winning team. It takes athletes who aren’t egotistical, who think about the group, the team. At the heart of the team, there must be a leader who inspires, who shakes things up and who brings the players together. That is the role of the coach. The Montreal Canadiens were able to count on the best, a unique, passionate and fearless coach who would make the most of their talent and effort and lead them to the Stanley Cup.

Honourable senators, that coach was none other than our former colleague, the great, the Honourable Jacques Demers, or “Coach” to his friends. Some say it was his pilgrimage to the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré that made the difference, but we’ll never know.

What we do know is that his pep talk leading into the series made an impression on all the players, and his bold decisions in the heat of the moment were instrumental.

Patrick Roy himself said the following:

Jacques Demers was the key man in that series. His decision to have Marty McSorley’s stick measured and to pull me from the net in the second game against the Nordiques made all the difference.

With his passion, his daring and his grit, our former colleague led his team to the last Stanley Cup that the Montreal Canadiens have won. Now, 30 years later, everyone is still saying, “Thank you, Coach Demers!”

Thank you. Meegwetch.