Gaston Therrien: A Rempart for life
QUÉBEC – Gaston Therrien played 221 games in the Québec Major Junior Hockey League while collecting a total of 275 points. After hanging up his skates, it was as a head coach that he made his big comeback in 1995. Beyond individual honours, his greatest pride will always be to have patrolled the blue line of the Québec Colisée throughout his junior career.
‘It’s a source of pride for me to have spent my entire Junior career with the Remparts. They’re a first-class organization and I wouldn’t have left them for the world. I was captain of the team and I remember that at the age of 19, I refused to be traded, so I could finish my career in Québec City. Other players would have wanted the opportunity to play in the Memorial Cup, but I wanted to be identified as a Rampart for the rest of my life.’
And it will indeed be in that uniform that he will be inducted this Wednesday, into the QMJHL Hall of Fame.
A first-round pick (4th overall) of the 1977 Junior draft, Therrien didn’t take long to show himself one the team’s leaders.
1979-80 season was by far the most productive of his career: He had 39 goals, to which he added 86 assists for a total of 125 points. He finished that year tops among team scorers, won the Émile Bouchard trophy (awarded to defenseman of the year), and was named to the first all-star team.
’39, that’s a lot of for a 19-year-old defenseman. That year, I broke my friend Pierre Lacroix’s record of 37. Other defensemen in the league have scored more goals in a season…I’m thinking of Marc-André Bergeron (42) but he was 20-years-old,’ the RDS analyst said with exactitude.
The same cologne for 36 years
During that incredible season, Therrien was named first star of the game on 27 occasions. Until recently, he still had that ‘scent’ of victory.
‘Back then, we were sponsored by BRUT grooming products. When we got the first star of the game, we were given a small gift box with shaving cream and after shave. I got 27 in less than a year … I think I ended up going through the last box just this last year,’ he laughed.
His coach Gaston Drapeau never hesitated to overwork him to ensure his team’s victory.
‘In the playoffs, we played against the Junior Canadiens. For five or six games … I never left the ice! The coach told me; Gaston, don’t take part in the warm-up; rest! For 60 minutes, I was on the ice. It was hard. I have experienced the same thing nine times in Europe. You leave everything you have on the ice!’
From Shoulder Pads to neckties
After a stint with the Québec Nordiques and some teams from the American Hockey League; Gaston Therrien went East. In France, he held the position of player-coach. When it was time to hang up his skates for good, he decided to come home and concentrate all his energies behind the bench.
‘You don’t decide to become a coach … it’s your journey that leads you to be one. In my case, I had excellent models playing for the likes of Jacques Demers, Michel Bergeron and Mike Keanan. They all imparted a little something that allowed me to become a coach in my turn. ”
He made his big return to the QMJHL with the Rimouski Océanic.
‘It was a great experience. I love the region, the city, and its people. Except for one game, for two years we played to sold-out crowds. It’s a hockey region…The team doesn’t belong just to Rimouski, but to the whole Lower Saint-Lawrence.
Therrien won the President Cup with the Val-d’Or Foreurs before joining the Montréal Rocket, who ended their business relationship two seasons later. He has been a hockey analyst at RDS since then.
Brad Richards, Francis Bouillon, Jean-Sébastien Giguère and Luc Lachapelle will also be inducted into the QMJHL Hall of Fame this Wednesday, at the Capitole Theatre in Québec City.
