Pierre Lacroix ‘a really sweet man’
MONTREAL — Mitch Garber remembers Pierre Lacroix as one of the great hockey managers of his generation. But that’s not the first thing that comes to mind when the high-profile Montreal businessman thinks of Lacroix, who died Sunday in Las Vegas of complications from COVID-19.
What Garber thinks of right off the bat is what a wonderful person Lacroix was.
“He was just a really sweet man,” Garber said during a phone interview Monday. “He’s just a really good human being.”
Garber said he met Lacroix in Las Vegas in 2006 or 2007. Garber was good friends with the late René Angélil, Céline Dion’s husband and manager, and it was Angélil who introduced Garber to Lacroix. Lacroix was one of Angélil’s closest friends and the former general manager and president of the Colorado Avalanche had moved to Vegas after leaving the National Hockey League franchise.
“He’s a brilliant hockey and business mind, and add to that a great family man,” said Garber. “Pierre was always thinking of other people. My risk from COVID is far less than his, but his concern was that me and my family were doing okay during COVID.”
Lacroix, who was a leading player agent prior to becoming a National Hockey League executive, was hired as general manager of the Quebec Nordiques in 1994 and he remained GM when the franchise moved to Denver to become the Colorado Avalanche in 1995. He guided the Avs to Stanley Cups in 1996 and 2001. There has been much talk in recent weeks about the 25th anniversary of the 1995 trade that sent superstar goalie Patrick Roy from Montreal to the Avalanche and how it was the worst deal in the history of the Canadiens. And it was.
But it was also a stroke of genius on the part of Lacroix and led directly to that Cup win in ’96. It’s also worth underlining that Lacroix was
“Pierre was always thinking of other people. My risk from COVID is far less than his, but his concern was that me and my family were doing okay during COVID.” Mitch Garber Friend of Pierre Lacroix
savvy enough to know he was dealing with a rookie GM in Réjean Houle and had the audacity to also ask for Habs captain Mike Keane as a throw-in in the deal. Lacroix also acquired Raymond Bourque in March 2000 and Rob Blake in 2001, and the two defencemen were key parts of the 2001 championship win. He later became team president and served in that position until 2013.
Garber remembers a golf game several years back in Vegas.
“I was playing golf with René and (his son) RenéCharles in Vegas and Pierre couldn’t play. I forget what was wrong with his knee or his hips, but he ended up having surgery ultimately. He was just watching us play on the golf course and he was driving around in a golf cart. Then he disappeared for about an hour and an hour later he shows back up on the hole that we’re playing on with huge bags of In-N-Out burgers. I was pinching myself. I’m saying, ‘I’m playing golf with René Angélil and Pierre Lacroix is getting me burgers.’ I just always thought, ‘What a great, great person he is’. Good laughs and always a smile on his face, that’s Pierre.”
Dion published messages on Facebook and Twitter paying tribute to Lacroix, writing: “I’m deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Pierre Lacroix. Pierre was Rene’s best friend and we shared so many wonderful times together with him and his wife Coco. What a privilege for us to have them in our lives.”
When Angélil was dying of throat cancer, Lacroix was by his side at his Las Vegas home
most days. There’s a great story in Georges Hébert-Germain biography “René Angélil: Le maître du jeu” about how Angélil and Dion were hanging out with Lacroix and his wife at the Lacroix residence in West Palm Beach, Fla., one day during the ’90s and when the wives went out shopping, the two old friends installed themselves on two floating mattresses in the pool.
Lacroix started telling Angélil of his dream of winning a Stanley Cup. As he always did, Angélil told his pal he was sure that if he ever became an NHL GM, he’d win the Cup. Then Angélil went into the house to make a call. He phoned Nordiques president Marcel Aubut and suggested he hire Lacroix. It didn’t happen then but, after the 1993-94 season, a bad one for the Nords, Angélil contacted Aubut again and reminded him of this candidate waiting in the wings.
This time, it worked. Aubut met Lacroix at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal and, on May 24, 1994, he became the new GM of the Nordiques.
And it turned out Angélil was right. Lacroix was going to his live his dream and win the Stanley Cup, just two years later.