He had arrived one fine December morning with a gold chain around his neck and a sumptuous signet ring on his finger; that he never leaves. It was twenty-three years ago and that day, in Cointrin, it was a real legend who landed in Montreal. As if a star had fallen from the sky. His name: Jean Perron.
This 51-year-old Quebecer, who had won the Stanley Cup with the Canadiens eleven years earlier, was expected as the white wolf or rather a Messiah by the leaders of GE Servette. The Vernets club, which was trailing at the bottom of the LNB ranking, needed him, its words, its experience, its aura, to get out of the red zone. The sparkling eye and the singing verb, this warm and talkative man was quick to convince his audience.
No sooner had he set foot on Geneva soil than he appeared at the ice in front of his players, explaining to them that it was necessary to “forget the past” and that together they were going to “go up a steep hill”. The same evening, his new team, led by Yannick Dubé, Claude Verret and Joël Aeschlimann, won 8-1 against Bienne. He will sit straight like an “i” in front of his bench, without saying a word, just to observe. He inspired respect. “I like to put myself in the shoes of the players,” he will content himself with saying, once the recital of his boys is over. Even the hole that was dug in the ice will plug up during the game with a little nitrogen. The miracle was underway.
“In a month, Perron released GE Servette from intensive care, which regained a taste for victory,” wrote The Tribune de Genève while The morning was talking about a metamorphosis.
At the time, this former altar boy, who had been acclaimed by a million Montrealers in 1986, was unanimous at Les Vernets because of his outspokenness and his knowledge of hockey. But like all great stories, it was not going to last. A year later, his message did not get through, he was asked to pack his bags for Canada, bye bye the artist.
Vice President at the time, Laurent Strawson remembers him and that period very well. “I remember the players went on strike. Fifteen of them, including Captain Joël Aeschlimann, had asked to see President Marco Torriani, at the Hôtel du Rhône, of which he was the patron. They complained about his training, repeated that they did not understand what Jean Perron was asking them, that there was a problem, that his message was no longer getting through, says the current president. Jean Perron obviously replied, explaining that he was working on a defensive aspect, before showing his signet ring struck with the seal of the Montreal Canadiens, to remind him that he had won the Stanley Cup, that he was the best coach than GE Servette never had. It really angered Mr. Torriani who was then out of his hinges. ” Him, usually so calm …
He will be replaced on December 15, 1998 by Dan Daoust before succeeding one another in front of the bench François Huppé, Paul-André Cadieux and a certain Chris McSorley …
Gaspesie specialties
Twenty-two years later, we found Jean Perron, who now runs a pizzeria in Chandler, where they also prepare delicious Gaspesian specialties. “We also take out,” he explains at the end of the phone between two deliveries. During the confinement, the restaurant was not open, but people came to get food from us. ” La Loge à Perron is a popular address for hockey fans who want to meet him, but also lovers of pizza, burgers and spicy chicken wings in maple sauce, his specialty. “We have quite varied menus where cod is also very popular in Gaspesie and poutine from Quebec of course, it does not exist in Switzerland!” It was here that Jean met his wife, Carole, with whom he also takes care of restaurant service. “I would love to come back to see friends in Switzerland, but when you’re in the restaurant business, you can’t take too much leave. We only close in January. And here we go rather to the south to rest or play golf! “
JEAN PERRON AND THE GASPÉSIE
Hockey leads everywhere and for the Canadiens ’former coach it’s in the Gaspé in Chandler!
Jean Perron operates his own little restaurant there (LA LOGE À PERRON) and he has become the star of the whole region … https://t.co/0aLJ7Qp159 pic.twitter.com/uKD2HvBx26– BERNARD BUJOLD (@ LeStudio1) July 15, 2018
If he still has creaky knees at 74, Jean Perron is still very active. And hockey is still his passion. “I will even regularly see the results of GE Servette on social networks, admits the ex-Druid of the Vernets. I find that Pat Emond, who was my assistant at the time, did a very good job with Louis Matte who was also in Geneva when I visited, remembers the Quebecer, who has no bitterness over his dismissal. We were in LNB and there were all kinds of financial problems at the time. In the bedroom (note: the cloakroom), the players were talking about no more money than hockey, whether they were going to be paid or not. ”
The memories are jostling in his head. “After being a radio analyst, I was called to San Francisco and then to Manitoba before receiving an offer from Geneva. Since I had always wanted to come to Europe, it was a great opportunity. I loved my time there, as did my experience a little later, in 2004, in Israel. It was extraordinary!” In Jerusalem, the Canadian discovered a new culture. “In my first year, we won a bronze medal at the Junior Worlds and gold with the seniors in Group C, before picking up against Germany and France in Group B”, smiles Jean Perron , who will eventually leave, tired of collaborating with Russians who did not correspond to his hockey philosophy. It will be his last appearance in a coach costume.
On TV and radio
However, before dealing exclusively with his bistro in Chandler, in 2016, the ex-trainer of the Nordiques de Québec and the Canadiens of Montreal, took another “lightning bolt” at the microphone of a television channel . To talk about hockey, of course. But by putting his foot in it, by inventing, on the air, expressions called the “Perronites” (read below) that made millions of Canadians laugh. “I was making pleonasms, that’s right,” he smiles. You know, we sometimes say funny things without realizing it! “
Then, one day, he was tired of repeating the same things over and over with these Canadians, who have not won the Stanley Cup since 1993. Today, he prefers small mandates on the radio where he continues to have fun “without taking yourself seriously” between two poutines, a pizza and two burgers. “You will greet my friends from Switzerland, Pat Emond in Geneva but also the great healer of Friborg, Denis Vipré, whom I had known during a pe-wee tournament, exclaims this true legend, who will always serve you his flat with its gold chain around the neck and its signet ring on the finger …
Christian Maillard
His Performances …
Here are Jean Perron’s memorable sports neologisms. “Perronism” is a form of verbal slippage that has gained great notoriety on television thanks to the ex-coach of Ge / Servette, who practiced this “sport” with great zeal (hence the name).
Selected pieces:
He got out of the woods.
Far from hare soup.
I am starting to get on fire.
It sells at the speed of the square!
It sells like little ponchos!
It’s really carried by the hair.
Rather, he should put wine in his glass.
Do not put off what belongs to Caesar
It is time to put the cedilla points and the slashes.
We will cross the river when we reach the end of the tunnel.
You don’t teach an old ostrich to make faces!
I remembered it yesterday as if it would have happened to me tomorrow.
Paris was not built in broad daylight!
He never stops beating around the bush!
It goes like 10 feet over the back of a duck!
I will not turn my tongue by four paths.
Should not flatter the suspenders.
He really needs to redecorate his breastplate.
A wish is better than what does not belong to you
He shouldn’t take his lantern for the messiah!
He gave her the change money.
This time, they are accumulated at the foot of the wall.
We must not take everything to the letter.
This player really has both eyes in the same boot.
One day, he will have to stop spilling the candle at both ends.
Bobino really doesn’t mind.
It starts to smell hot water.
He struggles like a cat in holy water.
The error is wet.
You shouldn’t put the bear skin in front of the plow.
It is best to walk on white gloves.
Players like him don’t rain the streets. (heard at V)
You sleep in color.
Russians are hard to penetrate …
When he was a radio commentator
Escuse, .. it’s very interesting, but our clock is jostling here and we’re going to go to another earpiece.
… sir, my opinion does not agree with you but I respect you!
… sir, if you knew the things that I am aware of, you would not say the same opinion!
… listen sir, I know what I’m talking about
… I imagine Pat (Burns) that you must feel that you have a William Tell sword hanging over your head?
… there are still far too many players playing with no helmets!
Created: 06.06.2020, 1:43 p.m.
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