At only 20, he was catapulted to Montreal to replace one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of the Canadiens.
An unfair and cruel challenge, from which he came out bruised three years later. Jocelyn Thibault had become a pain-reliever at the Molson Center and his departure to Chicago was greeted with relief by him and his loved ones.
The situation was so unbearable that his mother, Micheline, never showed up for the home games. She could watch them on TV in the basement, but came back to the kitchen after two periods, she was so stressed out.
The goalie played six more seasons with the Blackhawks, two with the Penguins, one with the Sabers, before taking a well-deserved retirement in 2008 and building a premier organization in Sherbrooke in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
Today, almost 23 years later, the one we had kicked out of the Molson Center in his last game under cruel and unfair boos, when his performance was however quite acceptable, has just been appointed to revive our sport national, at the head of Hockey Quebec. What a long way …
PHOTO BRAULT, BERNARD, ARCHIVES THE PRESS
Jocelyn Thibault, in the uniform of the Chicago Blackhawks, during a visit to the Bell Center
Even the most unpleasant experiences turn out to be overwhelmingly positive in the long run. My time in Montreal being what it is, it’s part of me. It forges the personality, the deep values, a will, a shell… It’s all good.
Jocelyn thibault
The 46-year-old is faced with another daunting challenge. Registrations are on the decline in minor hockey, there is a shortage of referees and fewer and fewer players are being developed, particularly in the goalie position.
But his media tour of the past week reinforces his optimism. “There are a lot more people who think like me than the opposite. The wave is even stronger than I thought. It’s fun because in the end hockey is going to be the winner. ”
His predecessors, however, failed to turn the tide despite good intentions. “We could say that there is nothing to do, or we launch a new attempt. I prefer the second option. The damage we suffer will be worse in five, ten years. We have not finished living the repercussions. We have to put our priorities in the right place and put athlete development and fun at the heart of our priorities. We must stop fooling around because we are escaping our sport. ”
Make the tough decisions
Forged the hard way during his years in Montreal, trying to make Patrick Roy forget, Jocelyn Thibault has never shied away from making difficult decisions. He did so with the Sherbrooke Phœnix, taking on the position of general manager in 2015 despite his inexperience and entrusting the position of head coach to Stéphane Julien, also inexperienced.
Four years later, the co-owner of the Phœnix and the vast Thibault sports complex in Sherbrooke was named QMJHL GM of the year, and Sherbrooke is one of the flagship clubs of the League.
Stéphane Julien is not only still a coach, but he took over from his former boss as general manager!
The sum of my implications since my retirement in 2008 means that we are talking about Hockey Quebec today. If you had told me that two or three years ago, I wouldn’t have believed it.
Jocelyn thibault
Jocelyn Thibault does not intend to leave his region. But he is looking for a pied-à-terre near Montreal.
“I keep my residence in the Eastern Townships, I am firmly rooted there, but we are looking for something in the southwest of Montreal, in L’Île-des-Sœurs or on the South Shore. . It is important for me to be in the office. ”
His three daughters have now left the family residence. “I have two daughters at university; one plays at Bishop’s, my second is at Concordia with the Stingers, with Caroline Ouellette and Julie Chu, and the third is at Champlain with the Cougars, at college. ”
All three play hockey, but none has become a goaltender like him. “It’s funny because my second had tried to be a babysitter in the novice. I have been on the ice a few times to teach. She wasn’t listening to me and I was starting to get impatient. At one point she turned to me and said, “Leave me alone because you don’t know anything about this!” [Rires] I have never been on the ice again! A few weeks later, she didn’t seem to be enjoying herself, I took advantage of a moment of weakness on her part to suggest another position. Being a parent and coaching your children are two things! ”
Parents in the crosshairs
Speaking of parents, precisely, one of its missions will be to educate the most resistant. “I’ve seen some crazy parents. Mine weren’t crazy. The people around me weren’t that crazy, there are several actions that can help change things and there is a momentum at the moment. It’s going to take time, but we have to hit the nail on the head and play hockey for the right reasons. ”
We must educate, but also, above all, better inform. “The development of an athlete is a bit like an assembly line. It is a sequence of acquiring knowledge, technical and tactical gestures that we accumulate from month to month, from year to year. In the atom, for example, specializing young athletes, winning matches, that is not part of the long-term development of the athlete. “
What we have to say is that each parent, each coach, each technical director has a key role in the development of young people. We all have a role in the assembly line.
Jocelyn thibault
In Sherbrooke, he saw the world of minor hockey transform. And that encourages him. “It’s a microsystem that allows me to believe in it. Sherbrooke has one of the most progressive minor hockey organizations in the province, by all accounts. In peewee and bantam, you have to have everyone play equally, except in the last two minutes of the match. The players change position. The development approach is more accentuated. You start working in the specialization from the midget ranks only. Civil and school structures work together. They all have the same sweater on the back. And I know there are other places in Quebec that work like this. ”
He also hopes to revive the development of goalkeepers. Once a world leader in the field, Quebec hardly has any more representatives in the NHL. Marc-André Fleury is the only number one goalie in Quebec, and he will soon be 37 years old.
“It’s a file that tickles me a lot. I don’t have all the answers. We are going to consult each other in the coming months and we will be discussing a lot of issues, women’s hockey, goaltenders, we have to understand what is going on and why the American and European goalkeepers have managed to get past us. You have to have the humility to say it. But it tires me, I announce it. ”
If Jocelyn Thibault’s enthusiasm, sensitivity and professionalism become contagious, minor hockey in Quebec will be better off.
Jocelyn Thibault on Carey Price
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, PRESS ARCHIVES
Carey Price, in the last playoffs
“I have been touched by everything he has been through over the past few months. I understand so much the kind of emotions he must have gone through. I found him so strong, I found him to be almost a superman, to get through all those years in a market like Montreal. The fact that he has dropped to one knee, and to see him come back, we must salute what he is doing. It is an important educational opportunity for the whole world. We live in a world where the expectations are high, even though you’re super good at what you do, it’s okay to have a tough end. In the end, in two, three, four, five years, he doesn’t realize it, but he’s going to have made a lot of people move forward in the right way. ”