Salt Lake City | Where Alain Vigneault and Claude Julien met

Since they became coaches, it seems that everything unites Alain Vigneault and Claude Julien.

Vigneault comes from Hull and Julien, from Orléans. The two managed the Hull Olympics, then the Canadian. They faced each other in the playoffs in 2011 (Canucks-Bruins), in 2017 (Rangers-Canadian) and in 2020 (Flyers-Canadian).

But it was in Salt Lake City that their long story began. From 1981 to 1983, they played rain and shine with the Golden Eagles, in the now defunct Central League. More than 40 years before the NHL arrived in Utah, they experienced hockey there.

Vigneault also remembers a “beautiful town, in the mountains”. What about hockey? “Hard to say. At that time, hockey was very different. There was more bullying, more fights. Look at our penalty minutes for Claude and me! Did people like hockey or fighting? “, asks the man who was nicknamed “AV”.

Let’s look at them, the penalty minutes, since he talks about them. Seasons of 134 and 176 for Julien. Vigneault had 266 in his first season, then 189 in his second… in 33 games! It was the post-Slap Shotbut also pre-concussions…

“Once, Alain fought against a player from Tulsa and it frustrated George McPhee,” Julien remembers. Alain was kicked out of the match. George was yelling at him, but I was the one who got caught fighting with George! As soon as the game was taken, we started hitting each other. When I came back to the locker room, I was upset. I looked at Alain, I told him: it’s because of you! We were young, we found it funny. »

Vigneault nuance. “I saw the fight, Claude defended himself well, both were fooled! »

With Alain Lemieux (Mario’s brother) and the Franco-Ontarian Denis Houle, they formed a well-appreciated French-speaking quartet. “Alain Lemieux was quite a player. Denis Houle was capable of scoring. Claude and I were more defensive, but we helped our teammates when they were having trouble,” describes Vigneault.

“There weren’t really any Europeans, so the French-speakers stuck together more,” he continues. At the beginning of my first year, they made team rules and said that we only had to speak to each other in English. I said: let’s see, if I speak to Claude, to Denis, I will do it in French. And Mark Reeds said: let’s see, let them speak to each other in French! Like today. When Czechs are next to each other, they speak to each other in their language. And when I spoke to Alex Burrows, it was in French! »

Futures coaches

Vigneault’s playing career was brief, although he did see 42 games with the St. Louis Blues through his time in Salt Lake. He was not recalled the following season. In 1984, at the age of 23, he understood that the train had already passed. “I told my wife: I am an ordinary person. » He returned to school, became a coach at Trois-Rivières and today he has a Jack-Adams trophy at home.

Julien played 14 games in the NHL, but played professionally until 1992, at the age of 32.

Both are now unemployed. Julien remains active; he planned to attend the Maple Leafs-Bruins game Monday night in Boston. Vigneault is working on his golf course in Florida; his contract with the Flyers, who fired him two years ago, expires in the summer.

Did they suspect that they would earn a better living behind the bench than on the ice? “I wasn’t thinking about coaching,” assures Vigneault. I was trying everything to make a career as a player. And when you’re young, you get advice, you don’t give it. »

Julien also believes that the two friends, in their early twenties, were not thinking about their after-careers. But “we were ready to play every game. Alain Lemieux was more relaxed. So Vigneault and I tried to motivate Lemieux to give his all every night. Even if we didn’t realize it at the time, we were dedicated and serious. With hindsight, I am less surprised.”

The two have not remained particularly close, but the respect is evident. “There aren’t tons of French speakers in the field,” emphasizes Vigneault. We did the same work for years, we were trying to break through together. Claude is not a close friend, but he is someone I love and respect. We went through the same things. It’s hard to break into this industry. »

As it turns out, everything is in everything, it is precisely a head coach from Quebec who has made the breakthrough, André Tourigny, who will lead the new Salt Lake City team.