TORONTO -- The new-look Toronto Maple Leafs have added decades of hockey experience by hiring Jacques Lemaire as special assignment coach.
Lemaire spent 16 full seasons and parts of two others as an NHL head coach, and he won the Stanley Cup for new Leafs general manager Lou Lamoriello's New Jersey Devils in 1995.
The 69-year-old spent the past six seasons with Lamoriello in New Jersey in different capacities.
It wasn't immediately clear what Lemaire's role will be on coach Mike Babcock's staff, as he joins assistants D.J. Smith, Jim Hiller and Andrew Brewer and goaltending coach Steve Briere.
But Lemaire knows Babcock well dating to 2010 when he was an assistant and Canada won gold at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
"Obviously Jacques Lemaire has a wealth of experience," Babcock said in a press release. "We had a great relationship from the 2010 Olympics and I've asked him to join our staff to help me and the rest of our coaches within the entire organization be the best they can be."
Lemaire has 11 Cup rings -- eight from his playing days, two as an assistant GM and one as a coach.
