MAN OF CULTURE – Yanick Jean’s return to the top full of learning experiences
When Yanick Jean returned home to Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean 12 seasons ago to assume the role of Head Coach and General Manager of the Chicoutimi Saguenéens, bringing a championship back to the region was obviously the top priority.
After all, Jean knows the feeling all too well. He was a defenseman with the 1994 squad, the last Sags club that won a championship. Until around a week ago, that was one of only two Chicoutimi clubs to emerge from the QMJHL as title holders.
Does Jean see any similarities between the club he toiled on the back end for and the one he cultivated on draft floors, in trade talks and behind the bench?
“The chemistry is very similar,” Jean confirms. “Once you win, you’re brothers for life.”
For Jean, the talent he currently has assembled in Chicoutimi is obvious to anyone who has ever watched a game or read a stat sheet. But it’s the atmosphere around this group that the 50-year-old from Alma, Quebec has worked particularly hard at nurturing as the Saguenéens rose steadily through the standings over the past half decade.
“We’ve stressed a culture that is positive,” Jean points out. “We want to make it fun to be here.”
Of course, nothing is more fun than winning.
But the last time Jean attempted to build a winner, it was a global pandemic, not a rival team, that derailed the Sags’ chances. The 2019-20 edition never had the opportunity to test its playoff mettle thanks to COVID related shutdowns. Still strong the following year, the club was stopped in the Semi-Finals during the “bubble” playoffs held in Quebec. It was a period of time that tested Jean and the Saguenéens’ resolve while also reenforcing the mantra the club and its Head Coach are quick to tout.
“It took a while to get over it but eventually, we turned the page,” Jean recalls. “In fact, when you have to live it, you realize how important culture is. It makes you enjoy the process more. It’s not like the last five years have all been rough, but we appreciate the steps it took. But still, culture has to be number one. Even if things don’t work out in the end, you’ll still enjoy the process.”
The process has not only included the methodical drafting and development of key players. There have also been targeted acquisitions from around the league. Not just top players; top people as well. Four of the players picked up by the club – forward Mavrick Lachance and blueliners Tomas Lavoie, Alexis Bernier and Jordan Tourigny – were all members of their former team’s leadership groups. That’s not a coincidence.
“We’d done our homework for years,” Jean explains. “We followed all of these guys up close. The list of players we had an eye on was a short one. We didn’t just want guys who were talented, we wanted them to be able to leave their egos at the door.”
Egos at the door is a statement Jean has made for years.
This time around, the meaning held particular significance. This is a Saguenéens club that made more significant in-season changes that ever before in Jean’s time with the club. An understanding needed to be reached when dealing with a group of teenagers who’ve known nothing but being the biggest fish in their previous ponds.
“It’s about role acceptance,” Jean says. “We’ve got guys like Colby Train and Gryphon Watson-Bucci who are 19-year-olds that are only stepping into the lineup if we have injuries. Other guys that were used to playing 30 minutes are playing 22 here. We asked everyone, ‘Are you willing to see your ice time cut?’. Everybody said yes.”
What these players inevitably signed up for was a championship season.
In the end, no one remembers who played the most minutes or was on the ice for the most defensive zone draws. But flags fly forever. The names on this year’s Chicoutimi roster will be reflected in the banner – perhaps banners – that will hang from the rafters at the Centre Georges-Vézina next fall.
No one in the organization has a greater appreciation for this that the man who runs the show.
“We had about 10 or 12 guys from the ’94 team in the rink at one point or another during the Final,” Jean mentions with pride. “The bunch of guys we have here, 30 years from now, they’ll look back on this the same way that group does now.”
(Photo credit : Steve Dunsmoor)
