By Will MacLaren
Exactly 15 defencemen in QMJHL history have recorded 100 or more points in a single season. Michel Périard is one of them.
On top of hitting the century mark, Périard also hit the jackpot, leaving the ‘Q’ as a Memorial Cup Champion with the 2000 Rimouski Océanic. But had you told him back then – or even in the latter stages of a 17-year pro career – that he would find a home behind the bench, he would’ve been skeptical.
“It was unexpected,” he says of his transition to coaching. “As a player, I wasn’t a big talker in the room. I was more of a leader on the ice. But I was lucky because I had some great leaders in the room with me during my career.”
“I got a call from my old (U-18) coach and he asked if I was interested in being an assistant,” Périard goes on to say, discussing his first stop with the Collège Charles-Lemoyne Riverains. “Thinking back on it, the last four or five years I was playing, I’d really enjoyed helping along the younger guys on my team. As it turns out, I really enjoyed coaching as well.”
His time in the U-18 ranks eventually led to a return to the QMJHL as an Assistant Coach, with the Sherbrooke Phoenix, from 2022-24. However, the man who readily admits wasn’t the strongest voice in the room as a player, began to find it in his post-playing days.
“I decided to focus more on developing as a Head Coach,” Périard says. “You need to be the lead voice and set the tone from the coaching side. It was a good move for me.”
This year finds Périard leading the charge at Bishop’s College School. As he navigates the waters of the life of a Head Coach, he keeps many of the valuable lessons learned from the coaches of his days in the QMJHL such as Denis Francoeur and the late Doris Labonté top of mind. He also credits former Phoenix bench boss Stéphane Julien for helping shape both his career and his mindset in working with his new club.
“You want to create a good culture,” Périard explains. “A good team cannot win with a bad culture. We’ve instilled that here with our kids. Whether they go on to play the game professionally or go on to run a business, getting them started the right way is important. You have to adapt to each player. You coach everyone the same as a team but you need to treat each kid the best way for them. If you respect your players, they’ll work hard for you. It’s about pushing and promoting developing the right way.”
The proof is in the prospects. One of Périard’s players was called up to Rimouski over the holiday season. And one of the former star blueliner’s long ago coaches offered up a comment that created a full circle moment for the leader of Bishop’s squad.
“The player showed me a text from Donald Dufresne thanking me for teaching him certain things,” Périard said with well-earned pride. “I told him to thank Donald for teaching me those same things 25 years ago.”
It wasn’t the only thing he took with him from the ‘Q’. Périard is now 46. His wife, whom he met in Germany during a long, successful stint in the DEL, is a self-employed photographer. They live happily in the Sherbrooke area and, with new challenges before him, the man who once hit triple digits on the backend is doing his best to bat .1000 in the game of life.
“I learned a lot,” Périard says of his junior days. “I learned about character. I learned how to win. I also learned how to be a good person and teammate. I also learned how to react around fans as well as the media. It’s all played a part. A lot of what I learned back then, I now teach here.”
