Jacques Tanguay, a close friend of Patrick Roy, and Nicole Bouchard, his “little sister” and “real CEO” of the Remparts de Québec, were in the mood for celebration on Saturday.
We can understand them, the two have been the two greatest comrades in arms of the former number 33 for two decades.
Casseau’s return to the National Hockey League is the simple continuation of things after years of breaking his back on the Quebec junior hockey buses.
It took passion to persist in eating cold chicken on your knees in Cape Breton, while your millionaire “boyfriends” were playing golf in Florida…
The years have passed, collaborators have come and gone, but Jacques Tanguay and Nicole Bouchard have remained unwavering allies of King Patrick. They saw him “grow old” and mature, while retaining the same flame, the only one that is valid in sport, the thirst for victory.
Tanguay proud and happy
The former president of the Remparts, Jacques Tanguay, rushed to get his hands on some very good tickets for Thursday evening’s match between the Islanders and the Canadiens at the Bell Centre. The businessman will be seated at the back of the bench, as close to Roy as he always was.
When I contacted him on Saturday, the Quebec magnate was in a very good mood. In his discussions with the former Red Devils pilot, Tanguay said he felt his friend’s great “febrileness”.
“I am extremely proud, happy for him,” noted the man who assumes the title of president of the organizing committee for the 2025 Memorial Cup in Rimouski. The timing is perfect, he has had time to rest in the last few months. To see that this vote of confidence comes from the veteran [de la LNH]Lou Lamoriello, that says a lot about Patrick.”
Years of fun
If there is a man in town capable of describing the moods of the Hall of Fame member, a true “guy of convictions”, it is Jacques Tanguay. The two new shareholders of the Boxeurs de Bordeaux, in the Magnus League, have lifted the Gilles-Courteau trophy and the Memorial Cup, but what the first is about to experience has nothing in common with the euphoria of last spring.
“You’re talking about a week!” laughed Tanguay about the Islanders’ next four games. He won’t sleep much tonight [de samedi à dimanche] and the week, he will not see it pass. Patrick back in the National League, with a competitive team, in a new amphitheater, I feel that we will have a lot of fun in the coming years.
“As my friends in Europe told me, the legend has returned to New York!”
—Jacques Tanguay
The cut, the objective
In the Big Apple, the King will perhaps get rid of his thick beard, but he will never give up the Stanley Cup, repeats Jacques Tanguay. The water of victory is the only one his former business partner from the Remparts drinks…
Often described as the “real CEO” of the Quebec Remparts, the club’s media relations director, Nicole Bouchard, was also experiencing great emotion.
No one in town has forgotten the 2013 press conference where the most influential woman in hockey in Quebec collapsed when she saw her friend leave. Last June, his heart broke again when the announcement of the end of Patrick Roy’s adventure with the Remparts was announced.
The word that best sums up his thoughts since Saturday? “Finally!”
“I’m very happy for him, he deserves it,” reacted the female face of junior hockey in the capital. I’m surprised he didn’t get a call before then, with all the opportunities out there [dans la LNH] these last months. He’s so passionate, I’m sure he’ll bring this team [les Islanders] on another level.”
It was still too early to confirm if Nicole Bouchard would attend Patrick Roy’s first games with the Islanders. The “real GM” of the Remparts was busy preparing the return of her three former protégés, Vsevolod Komarov, Mikael Huchette and Kassim Gaudet, on Sunday, but she was juggling the possibility of attending Thursday evening’s game in Montreal, an evening that promises to be fertile in emotions.
Her tears of sorrow will finally turn into tears of joy!
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2024-01-21 09:00:00
#legend #Roy #arrives #York
