Mario Tremblay

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This article is about the hockey player and coach. An unrelated Mario Tremblay is a disc jockey under the professional name MC Mario.

Mario Tremblay (born September 2, 1956 in Alma, Quebec) is a former professional ice hockey player and a former National Hockey League head coach.

[edit] Playing career

Tremblay, nicknamed "Le bleuet bionique-The Bionic Blueberry", played with the Montreal Canadiens for his entire NHL playing career (1974 to 1986), and was also the coach of the club from 1995 until his resignation in 1997, winning five Stanley Cup Championships with the team as a player.

[edit] Coaching career

He is best known for his long running dispute with star goaltender Patrick Roy, which eventually led to Roy's departure from Montreal. The two had almost come to blows in a Long Island coffee shop before Tremblay was announced as a coach and his first appearance in the dressing room was greeted with snickers from Roy.

They almost fought a second time after Tremblay fired a shot at Roy's throat during practice, by which point it was only a matter of time before the hot-tempered Tremblay and his star goalie reached the point of no return.

Tremblay kept Patrick Roy in net during a December 2, 1995 game versus the Detroit Red Wings, in which the Wings scored 9 goals on Roy, who was jeered by the Montreal fans. Roy stormed off the ice and told team president Ronald Corey that it was the last game he would play for the Canadiens. Four days later, Roy was traded to Colorado with captain Mike Keane for Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Rucinsky and Andrei Kovalenko. Roy went on to lead the Avalanche to the Stanley Cup twice before retiring. In contrast, all three players acquired in return did not play significant roles with the Canadiens and were all eventually traded.^{[citation needed]}

Nearly a year later, Tremblay also had a heated verbal exchange with Canadiens enforcer Donald Brashear during a team practice prior to a game against the Avalanche in Denver. Brashear was later traded to the Vancouver Canucks.

As a head coach for Montreal, Tremblay coached 159 games, with 71 wins, 63 losses and 25 ties across two years with the team.

In 852 regular season games in the NHL, he scored 258 goals and added 326 assists for 584 points, with 1043 penalty minutes. Tremblay currently serves as an assistant coach to Jacques Lemaire for the Minnesota Wild, a position he has held since their inaugural season.