Panthers Talking to Lemaire

(Jacques Lemaire drinks from the Stanley Cup for the first time - in 1968)

According to the Boston Globe, former Minnesota Wild head coach and Palmetto, Florida (south of Tampa) resident Jacques Lemaire is talking with both the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning about a position as a consultant (near the bottom). The Globe speculates that the role could be comparable to that of Scotty Bowman in Chicago, and before that, Detroit.

As a player, Lemaire won the Stanley Cup eight times - all with the Montreal Canadiens, and twice he scored Stanley Cup winning goals. Only five other players have can say they have done the same: Toe Blake, Jean Beliveau, Henri Richard, Bobby Orr and Mike Bossy.

After retiring, Lemaire won the Cup twice more with Montreal as an assistant general manager, and when the Devils won the Cup in 1995, it was Jacques Lemaire behind the bench earning his eleventh Cup win. There aren't many in hockey who have been around success near as often as Lemaire.

Lemaire's coaching strategy was defense oriented and that was evident with Minnesota, of course. Before that, all that talk about the Devils playing the trap in the '90s? Lemaire was there. So I think we can all see where Jacques Martin takes an interest.

When he started in Minnesota, the Wild traded for Lemaire's nephew, goaltender Manny Fernandez. Splitting time with Jamie McLennan, Fernandez took advantage of the opportunity and went from being a backup to a legitimate starter in the NHL. Incidentally, Fernandez is an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Lemaire has had incredible success as a player, and he's had success both in management and as a head coach. He's won the Stanley Cup eleven times. That's almost as many full seasons (not counting the 2004-05 lockout or the shortened season in 1994-95) as the Panthers have in their history as a franchise, and it's nearly three times as many Cups as the Hall of Famer Denis Potvin won. Denis' history was impressive enough to have in the organization.

Lemaire also boasts a pair of Jack Adams Awards, winning it first in 1994 with the Devils and then again in 2003 with Minnesota.

Success like that doesn't chance itself upon an individual. Lemaire's an incredible hockey mind and if he were to join the Panthers in any capacity, the Cats would be better for it. Much better.