Bruce Kluckhohn / NHLI via Getty Images file

Jacques Lemaire may wind up his NHL coaching career where he began it — in Montreal, writes Bill Clement of NBCSports.com.

Montreal has many of the same players it had last season when it finished first in the Eastern Conference, but this season has been a different story. A lot of the Canadiens have underachieved so there are questions of which players will be back, especially since Montreal may have a huge turnover of players as it has 10 unrestricted free agents, and six restricted free agents.

There are a lot of appealing qualities that Lemaire has as a coach and a person that would work in Montreal. He can definitely handle the media there. He still has the passion, and the most important intangible a coach must have and that is energy. He’s quietly demanding, and he expects his players to be consummate professionals.

It would be his job to pull the team together. Presumably, the Canadiens will have some of the pieces to puzzle in place next season like defensemen Andrei Markov and Roman Hamrlik, and their two young goalies, Jaroslav Halek and Carey Price.

For Lemaire there are three possibilities for next season. The first is to return as coach of the Wild. The second is to go to Montreal to coach. And the third is to retire from coaching. He’d be crazy not to listen if the Canadiens come calling. Coming back to Montreal would be a chance for him to finish his NHL coaching career where it started.

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