It has always been, and still is, an open ledger. His biography could therefore not take another direction.
Age has not taken an ounce of its splendor from Yvon Lambert. Straight as an oak at 71 years old, the big fellow has the verb and the quickdraw of sunny days. Like when he won the Stanley Cup year after year with the Canadiens in the late 1970s, for example.
The hand of the representative of Press disappears in the enormous paw of the ex-attacker, decorated with a big ring underlining the conquest of 1976. Inspired by the singer Tom Jones, he wears it on the little finger, while, on his left ring finger, throne a another ring, this one celebrating the 1977 Cup.
Yvon Lambert visits the offices of the newspaper on Saint-Laurent Boulevard to talk about the book A glorious in the heart of the dynasty. The story, published by Hurtubise editions from the pen of David Arsenault, a well-known RDS journalist, tells the life and career of the native of Saint-Germain-de-Grantham, that nothing intended for a career in the NHL.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
David Arsenault
Raised on a farm, Lambert learned to skate at age 13 and only started organized hockey at the midget level. He nevertheless defied all predictions and climbed each of the ranks to the NHL. It was the Detroit Red Wings who drafted him at 19, but it was with the Canadian that he spent the vast majority of his career, especially under the orders of Scotty Bowman, who also signed the preface. of the book.
In the shadow of Lafleur, Cournoyer and Shutt (among others!), Lambert has always been appreciated and respected, as much in the locker room as on the rink and with the fans. Even today, he is one of the most visible ambassadors among the former Habs. He never says no to a handshake, a photo or a chat. And especially not to a beer.
The book covers his whole life, without filter or modesty. Its greatest successes are told there, but also its less glorious areas. His relationship with alcohol, omnipresent in the pages, is discussed openly. Lambert himself signs the epilogue in which he admits to being an alcoholic.
“I have no regrets, insists Yvon Lambert in an interview. I have always faced music. ”
” Not ready ”
Despite this openness, it took a good ten years – and declined a few offers – before agreeing to write his story.
“I didn’t feel ready,” he explains. Not ready to talk about everything. Then it happened to him in the portrait. ”
“Him” is of course David Arsenault, who, he is the first to admit, has benefited from a favorable alignment of the stars.
An avid reader of sports stories, the journalist had long wanted to describe the journey of an athlete.
As a hockey fan, he knows like the back of his hand the 1980s of the Canadiens, that of Patrick Roy and Mats Naslund.
However, he noted, relatively few books have been devoted to the craftsmen of the dynasty of the late 1970s with the Habs. Guy Lafleur, Ken Dryden, Serge Savard and Scotty Bowman have been featured in biographies. But not Larry Robinson, Guy Lapointe, Yvan Cournoyer, Steve Shutt or Jacques Lemaire, all members of the Hockey Hall of Fame. And not Yvon Lambert either.
In the spring of 2020, David Arsenault contacted Yvon Lambert to submit his writing project. Encouraged by his relatives (in particular Réjean Houle), and noting the extent of his free time during the COVID-19 pandemic, Yvon Lambert accepted.
The two men therefore met for the first time at the home of the former hockey player – remotely, it should be noted, health rules oblige. “I think it took a year before we shake hands,” recalls David Arsenault.
Immediately, the current is passed.
The conversations lasted five, six hours, and followed the chronology of the character’s life. The author wrote down everything and came back a few weeks later to read the chapter which had just taken shape. Lambert approved of this, qualified or corrected that. And we moved on to the next part.
Checks
Arsenault also submitted to a monk’s job, that of validating or improving each detail narrated by his subject in order to relay it as precisely as possible. He scoured the BAnQ site, reading every newspaper article written about the player during his career and collating information on the key places he visited in order to describe them as if we were there.
“He worked hard in a tabarnane! “Laughs Yvon Lambert, pointing to the journalist next to him, who has also interviewed some 70 people.
“All those named in the book, if they are still alive, I spoke to them,” confirms David Arsenault. Sometimes it lasted 25 minutes and it didn’t give much. Other times, it fed me and allowed me to go in another direction. ”
All this in order to deliver the most authentic story possible, with respect for the people involved. He cites Sandra, Lambert’s ex-wife, as an example, who had to live with an absent husband for most of the years they spent together. His point of view mattered to him. He even went so far as to validate the swear words used by Lambert and his sidekicks from the Canadian!
The result ? A resolutely detailed book, which faithfully depicts a colorful character as well as the daily life of the Canadian from 1975 to 1979, probably the best team in the history of the NHL. The whole set in its historical and cultural context with a precision which astonishes, knowing that the author did not know himself this time.
With this sincere portrait, Yvon Lambert wants readers to “realize that you must not give up in life”.
“When an important person wants to help or encourage you, take it, take their advice,” he continues. I want the audience to remember that what I accomplished didn’t happen because I was lucky, but because I worked. ”
Thanks to his efforts, he concludes, he rubbed shoulders with winners and “became a winner”. “And I had an amazing life. ”
Of those players who “make the difference”
PHOTO PASCAL RATTHÉ, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Scotty Bowman
Even though their professional relationship did not end in the best possible way 40 years ago, an immense mutual respect still animates Yvon Lambert and Scotty Bowman. Crossed last September at the inauguration of the space that bears his name in the Verdun auditorium, Bowman recalled how players like Lambert “make the difference” within a winning team. And this, “even though you have a lot of future Hall of Fame members,” Bowman said in a short interview with Press. “Even though they earn less money and receive less merit [pour les victoires], it takes hard-working guys. Bowman cited the examples of Doug Risebrough, Mario Tremblay, Yvon Lambert in Montreal, but also Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby and Darren McCarty in the Detroit Red Wings, dominant in the late 1990s. More recently, hard work Blake Coleman’s trio Barclay Goodrow and Yanni Gourde has been intimately linked to the Tampa Bay Lightning’s two Stanley Cup victories, insisted the legendary coach. Like Lambert at the time, “these guys make the difference,” he insisted.
Yvon Lambert, a glorious man at the heart of the dynasty
David Arsenault
Hurtubise editions
384 pages