Michel Therrien

Canadian born on November 4, 1963 in Montreal, Quebec. He was a 6-foot, 200-pound defenceman during his junior days as a player.

QMJHL Teams, as a head coach

Laval Titan (1993-94 to 1994-95)

Granby Predateurs (1995-96 to 1996-97)

Before becoming an accomplished coach, Michel Therrien was a QMJHL defenceman in the 1980s. Therrien then spent four years at the minor pro level before reorienting his career while staying in the hockey world.

It was with the Laval Titan under the guidance of the Morrissette family that Therrien would make his return to the QMJHL as an assistant coach from 1990 to 1993 under head coaches Claude Therien and Bob Hartley. From his very beginnings as a coach, he diligently learned the ropes from passionate role models who had a singular motivation – winning!

In 1993, he would then be named head coach of the Titan, the team he would lead to two consecutive regular season titles. In the playoffs, he guided the Titan to a pair of league final appearances.

Following his second year as head coach, he earned QMJHL Coach of the Year honours.

During that period in 1994-95, the Morrissette brothers Jean-Claude and Georges sold their stake in the Titan. They then became owners of the Granby Bisons. They would transform that organization from top to bottom in the summer of 1995, making numerous trades and bringing a new leader on board: Michel Therrien. The talented club was then renamed the Predateurs and showed great character which no prey could measure up to.

Therrien’s team would win 56 games in 1995-96, claiming the regular season crown with 114 points. The Predateurs would go on to eliminate Beauport in the league final as Therrien won his second President’s Cup title, his first as a head coach.

The Predateurs weren’t done there with the ultimate honour occurring on May 19, 1996. After a 4-0 win over the Peterborough Petes in the national final, in doing so, the Predateurs became the first Quebec team to win the championship since the Quebec Remparts 25 years earlier in 1971.

At the QMJHL level, Michel Therrien amassed 221 wins in 322 games. His impressive QMJHL career winning percentage of .707 is third all-time behind Gerard Gallant (.791) and Maurice Fillion (.733).

Since 1997 through to his induction, he would have spent nine seasons with the Montreal Canadiens organization. Therrien counts over 1,000 games coached behind a pro bench.

Michel Therrien will be inducted to the QMJHL Hall of Fame in the “Builder” category on April 8, 2015.