It is often said that hockey is like a small world. A world where we never know where a contact developed several years ago can take us.
It was through this sprawling network that one day, Mario Durocher, veteran manager in the QMJHL, found himself face to face with Dainius Zubrus. Yes yes. THE Dainius Zubrus who made Montreal dream so much a quarter of a century ago.
The matchmaker behind this meeting: Dan Lacroix, head coach of the Moncton Wildcats, former assistant coach with the Canadiens and, above all, former roommate of Zubrus in Philadelphia in the 1990s. The two men remained close to the point where Lacroix was best man at Zubrus’ wedding.
Retired since 2016, Zubrus is president of Hockey Lietuva, the Lithuanian ice hockey federation. Looking for a head coach for his U18 and U20 teams, he asked Lacroix for advice. His recommendation: Mario Durocher, assistant general manager at the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, former head coach of about half of the QMJHL clubs. The Mike Sillinger of coaches.
“I came to Montreal to visit my ex-spouse and our children, so I met Mario, we had dinner together, we talked and quickly, I told myself that if he accepted the position, we would be lucky to have him. ‘to have,’ Zubrus tells The Presson the line.
“I liked his professionalism, his management, how he prepares training. He was ready for whatever I asked of him. He knows his hockey, but also the details, how to do things, and I trust his methods. He teaches and he requires discipline, things that I believe in. »
Two years later, discreetly, Durocher therefore combines the dual functions of deputy general manager of the Drakkar and head coach of the Lithuanian U18 and U20 teams. Quietly because Lithuania is not a hockey nation, the country is constantly fighting for promotion to the top international divisions.
Culture shock
It was a little before Christmas 2022 that Durocher flew for the first time to the land of storks which is not Alsace.
“We had a camp, we had 60 guys under 18 years old. I didn’t know the coachesI didn’t know what I was getting myself into,” admits Durocher.
The first thing I asked Dainius when I arrived: is there war there? Is there a bomb going to fall on my head?
Mario Durocher
This is indeed a legitimate question for a country that shares a border with the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. In fact, the average Quebecer knows very little about Lithuania, for the simple reason that with some 2.7 million inhabitants, it is one of the least populated countries in Europe.
“We are not a big country, not a hockey country either, not yet,” explains Zubrus. All my friends were concerned, and Mario too, it’s normal, because they don’t know if the border is close. But it’s been two years now. The first months were tense. Even at dinners with friends, people followed the news. It was shocking to see this, in 2022, 2023, bombings. »
The shock on the ice was less. “I have no problem saying that in terms of individual skills, they are as good as here,” says Durocher. It’s more at the tactical level, in understanding the game system, that they had problems, and that’s my strength. »
“Its mandate is to prepare young people,” recalls Zubrus. They have had a camp, they participate in tournaments and then they return to their team full time… Their experience with the national program gives them structure, they know what is asked of them. Young people have their notebook for the system, the rules, the dress code. »
PHOTO PROVIDED BY DAINIUS ZUBRUS
Lithuania has around 1500 registered hockey players.
It remains that the country comes to the 24e world ranking and has 10 ice rinks, according to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Zubrus and Andrey Pedan, who briefly played in Vancouver in 2015-16, remain the only two Lithuanians to have reached the NHL.
“Basketball is no 1 here, Zubrus recalls. We lack arenas. The reason why I became president of the federation is to encourage cities to build arenas. Many people love hockey, but they have nowhere to register their children. We have around 1,500 young people registered. My goal is to grow that number, and maybe we’ll have another player in the NHL one day. »
Complicated gymnastics
For Durocher, this mandate involves some management of his schedule. He calculates that he has to go to Lithuania four times a year. “In November for the U20 Four Nations tournament, at the Holidays for the Junior World Championship, one week for the U18 Four Nations and the Under-18 World Championship,” he explains.
Some of these tournaments are obscure to the point where it is difficult to find traces of them on the Internet, at least in English. This is the case of last week’s Four Nations tournament, for example, but Durocher tells us that his club finished the competition with a victory, a defeat in regulation time and one in overtime, a tournament which Poland won.
He still manages to fulfill his obligations with the Drakkar, the best junior team in Canada so far this season with a record of 43-8-3. “He goes to bed late!” », notes Jean-François Grégoire, head coach and CEO of the team. “Sometimes it’s 2 a.m., 3 a.m. there and we’re talking. But it gives him another experience and we benefit from it, because he makes contacts there. »
PHOTO GUILLAUME LEFRANÇOIS, THE PRESS
Mario Durocher is also assistant general manager of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, in the QMJHL.
For Durocher, the important thing remains to develop players, but also, for him personally, “to seek the adrenaline of coach. It’s my sacred fire within,” he says.
“I always say that I’m a local from Grosvenor Street in Sherbrooke. But here I come, I am head coach of the national team. It’s all about respect, and people are respectful there. Yes, there is some shenanigans like here. There are parents who find that their boy doesn’t play enough. But coming from the outside, I am more neutral.
“I hear about it from my assistants, I hear chatter, but they don’t come to see me. So I take the team, I make my selections. It’s no more fun there than in Canada, because you’re the dream breaker! But you need to know where you’re going. »