Jacques Lemaire Hire Is a Big Win for Mike Babcock, Toronto Maple Leafs

On Friday, the Maple Leafs announced an addition to Mike Babcock’s staff, hiring Jacques Lemaire as Special Assignment Coach.

The #Leafs have hired Jacques Lemaire as Special Assignment Coach. #TMLtalk READ → http://t.co/kZzjWliIwV pic.twitter.com/kYht7OYYvk

— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) August 14, 2015Most recently, Lemaire had filled that same role for the New Jersey Devils.

This is a fantastic hire for Toronto, for a lot of different reasons.

The most critical of those reasons is that Lemaire is a superb coach. After a playing career that included eight Stanley Cup wins with Montreal, he moved behind the bench. He won the Jack Adams Award twice and enjoyed a head coaching career…