Ron Lapointe – ‘He never forgot his roots’

Tonight, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League will induct 5 new members into its Hall of Fame at the Golden Pucks Gala. Former Shawinigan Cataractes head coach, Ron Lapointe will be honoured in the category of Builder.

The evening will be full of emotion for his wife, Louise Gélinas, who will represent the decorated coach, who lost his battle with cancer on the 24th of March, 1992, at the age of 42.

An eternal bond

Ron Lapointe made his debut as a coach in 1979 with the Montreal Junior. After a brief stint with the Québec Remparts, he joined the Shawinigan Cataractes where his career would take flight.

Notably, he entered into league history books by earning 31 consecutive home games without a loss. To this day, no other QMJHL coach has been able to beat this record.

In 1984-85, he led his team to their first regular-season championship. His time in the juniors was up; the NHL was calling.

‘He worked so hard to get to the NHL…it was his dream,’ Madame Gélinas remembers of his job offer of assistant coach in Washington.

He also coached in the American Hockey League before becoming head coach of the Québec Nordiques.

‘he also worked as a scout… but no matter where he was working, Ron never forgot his roots. He had a particularly special attachment to players from the QMJHL. When he was a scout, he would push hard for them to the NHL teams,’ smiled his wife. And those who work hardest, reap the rewards.

‘Ron was a very loyal guy. He had enormous respect for his colleagues and his friends. He was ready to go battle for us. In hockey, there is always someone who opens doors for you, for me it was Ron. He helped me to become a scout for the Cataractes and later head scout. When he made the jump to the NHL, he was able to get me a job with the Capitals, and the Nordiques. I owe him a lot,’ recounts his good friend, Michel Georges – a friend who admits to being excited to see his old colleague enter into the QMJHL Hall of Fame.

War of words

Anyone who ever saw him lead a game in Shawinigan would describe him as one of the most ebullient coaches in the history of the franchise.

‘He was maybe a little too intense (laughs). I was never embarrassed, but I was sometimes frightened that he might fall on the ice when he would climb up on the bench to chew out one of the officials. Ron was a showman. People loved that. It was good for both the team and for ticket sales,’ Georges recalls.

Back then, just the simple rivalry between Ron Lapointe and Michel Bergeron was enough to fill the stands in the Jacques-Plante arena. He also maintained an explosive relationship with his good friend, Pat Burns.

They were like two of a kind… they loved to make shock statements in the papers. The other would send a reply and their dispute would set the tone for the game. They probably had a good laugh together months later at the NHL draft,’ Louise guesses.

Cancer

As soon as he learned that he was stricken with kidney cancer, Ron Lapointe made the decision to leave the Québec Nordiques organization. One the evening of December 15th, 1988, he was behind the bench for his last NHL game, facing off against the Montréal Canadiens and their head coach, Pat Burns.

‘It was something special, that last game against Pat. I remember well that after the game he came to see us. He told Ron that he was completely beside himself with that had happened. They were like two lions behind the bench, but also two friends who respected each other enormously off the ice.’

Lapointe later accepted an invitation to meet the young players of the Vancouver Canucks, to oversee their development. He had fulfilled this function until 1992, two months before his death.

The Ron-Lapointe Trophy

The QMJHL instituted the Ron-Lapointe Trophy, to be awarded every year to the outstanding coach in the league. Twenty-four years ago, his wife awarded it to Guy Chouinard of the Sherbrooke Faucons. Tonight, it will be she again who awards it to the winner for 2015-2016, only minutes before her late husband is inducted into the Quebec Major Junior Hall of Fame.