PHOTO: Jacques Demers cheers on the Canadiens despite being ill

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
PHOTO: Jacques Demers cheers on the Canadiens despite being ill
Credit: Facebook

For the past 10 years, Jacques Demers has been battling the disease.

It has been a long time since the former Canadiens coach, who brought the Stanley Cup back to the city in 1993, has been able to care for himself. We knew this, but we couldn't necessarily see the situation in recent footage.

But now we can.

André Rousseau, who worked for years at the Journal de Montréal, posted a photo from his recent visit with Jacques Demers. He was accompanied by Jacques Daoust, Claude Rochon, and Bertrand Raymond.

Rousseau posted a photo of the event on social media and wrote an article about it afterward. The website HabsolumentFan also reported the news.

The photo was taken during the meeting in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue in recent days. André Rousseau also reports that even though Mr. Demers can't really speak, he looked happy.

He even watches the Habs' games on TV when he can.

It's still an image that provokes a reaction. After all, even though we know this has been his reality for about ten years, we hadn't really seen Jacques Demers like this before.

Would it have been more respectful not to share the photo, to preserve the image of the man in his prime? We imagine the Demers family must not have been opposed to the idea, since the photo is circulating publicly following his friend's post.

At the same time, there's a certain message of hope in all this: despite the illness that has affected him for so long, he's fighting, and he's still able to have visitors and listen to hockey once in a while.

Let's hope he gets to see the Habs win it all one last time before it's too late.


in a nutshell

– Hey, man.

– Indeed.

– Zach Werenski, future captain?

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