Webster, who once coached Habs top draft pick Leblanc, returns to ±«ÓãÖ±²¥
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By Serge Vleminckx
ruefrontenac.com
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At the age of 61, Jim Webster has returned. After 35 years, he has returned to the large Redmen family at ±«ÓãÖ±²¥, this time as head coach. He succeeds, on an interim basis, Martin Raymond, recently named as an assistant to Guy Boucher, new head coach of the Hamilton Bulldogs.
In one sense, Webster owes a debt to the Redmen hockey program.
"I began my studies at Concordia but finished at ±«ÓãÖ±²¥," he explains. "I recall a number of moments in a Redmen uniform that directly influenced my hockey career. In particular, I'm talking about two key games."
"During the 1972-73 season, I was part of a Quebec university all-star team that was playing against an all-star squad from the QMJHL. They had a team that featured Andre Savard and Mario Tremblay. Everyone predicted we would have a tough time against them but it was a great game that finished in a 3-3 tie."
"Later that year, I played with Andre Savard, Mario Tremblay and Larry Robinson in a game against the Russian Red Army team," recalled Webster. "I had a great game, good enough to attract the attention of the New York Islanders. I was offered a two-year contract that gave me an opportunity to play for their top farm team, which at the time, was in Fort Worth, in the Central Hockey League."
Webster also played for the Milwaukee Admirals of the IHL and for the Nova Scotia Voyageurs in the AHL.
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He then headed to Europe to begin a coaching career with numerous pro hockey teams.
Years later, he ended up working in the West Island region of Montreal, where he was responsible for the Sport-Etudes program at John Rennie high school. He also served as technical director and instructor for the West Island Minor Hockey Association.
"Among my students was Louis Leblanc (the Habs first draft pick of the 2009 NHL Draft) and Simon Despres (Pittsburgh's first-round selection). They were only seven years old. The best player in that group no longer plays hockey," said Webster.
Speaking of Leblanc, he will bump into his old "hockey professor" later this season when the Redmen are scheduled to play an exhibition game against Harvard University on Oct. 23. The Crimson are coached by Ted Donato, a former NHL player who skated for eight teams in his 13-year NHL career.
Webster takes over a ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ team that has earned tremendous respect and credibility under the reign of Martin Raymond. The Redmen have taken over from UQTR as the top university hockey program in Quebec.
"For many years, I have worked with coaches at all levels," says Webster. "And my energies have been directed in three distinct levels in the hockey world (playing, teaching, coaching). I'm happy to get a chance to be able to return to the avenue I like best - coaching. To be a head coach of an excellent hockey program!" he exclaimed with the same excitement of a player who just had a great game.
Webster, by the way, expressed his thoughts relatively well in the language of Moliere, the great French writer. But not well enough to satisfy his needs for coaching the Redmen.
"I intend to take a French course at ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ so that I can better express myself when communicating with the Francophone players," he said.
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(TRANSLATION BY EARL ZUKERMAN)