2023-05-16 19:30:00
Doris Labonté gave it her all. After five years of fighting cancer, he made the decision that enough was enough and that he accepted, calmly, to put an end to the treatments.
The former head coach of the Rimouski Oceanic, who won the Memorial Cup in 2000, then the President’s Cup with Sidney Crosby in his ranks in 2005, had only one request before agreeing to speak with The newspaper on this difficult decision: no melodrama, no rose water narrative. “I wish it was cool“, he wrote to us.
«CoolFor him, it also meant talking regarding his passion, hockey. Because despite the fatality, the one whose banner is hoisted to the top of the Sun Life Financial Coliseum has concrete morale, and an ever-strong passion for his sport.
“I have no regrets. I sleep like a baby and I’m really serene these days. I am well.”
For three years, he has known that the match is lost in advance. The cancer also affected the lungs and there was no treatment that might completely cure it.
“I fought for three years to prolong my life, but, at some point, the disease becomes stronger and it makes you even sicker. At 69, I made the decision to stop suffering,” he explains.
“The disease will win. Now the deal it’s: “look, you’re stronger than me but I want to feel good too. I’m going to go live my life and I won’t be a slave to any of this. I don’t want to drag this around all the time anymore.”
Doctors have offered him medical assistance in dying, but he prefers not to use this route.
“For the moment, I am at home with my spouse and I can do activities. I am still very independent. I take my pills, but I’m in a good phase. The doctors told me to take advantage of it. They said to me: “Do you want to smoke a good cigar? Enweille! Don’t wait until tomorrow.” »
“The Achievement of My Life”
The news of the cessation of his treatment, first relayed by journalist Jean-Claude Leclerc on Monday, raised a significant wave of sympathy for the hockey man.
Because it is thanks to this sport that he left his mark on the Bas-Saint-Laurent region. And, we feel it when talking to him, even if he has been retired from the hockey world for a while, this sport still lives in him as much.
During the hour during which we spoke on Tuesday, regarding fifteen minutes were devoted to his illness and the other 45 to hockey, his memories, his vision of today’s hockey and some tasty anecdotes from his time with the Océanic.
Of course, winning the Memorial Cup in 2000 remains an important part of his life and the legacy he bequeathed to his native region.
“When I was young, I dreamed of bringing something remarkable to the region. Something that would help publicize my corner. Hockey has become the way and it is the achievement of my life. Maybe that’s what made me sick, but if I had to do it once more, I’d do the same thing. It’s been a nasty handsome trip. Mr. Tanguay would tell you but unfortunately, we lost him before.”
Maurice Tanguay, a mentor
Mr. Tanguay is Maurice Tanguay, the businessman at the very origin of the birth of Océanic and the one who helped make it the prestigious organization it is today. Died in February 2021, he was one of the most significant actors in the life of Doris Labonté.
“He was the boss and I’ve always said that to assistants and players. He didn’t have to report to us, but he did. He was there, in front of me, and we didn’t always agree, but we did a lot of good, the two together. With him, I knew what to do with business. He marked me terribly and without him and his support, we would have been a small club like the others.
An indelible legacy
No matter what awaits her in the days, weeks or months to come, cancer will never be able to take away from Doris Labonté the impact it has had on her region.
“I’m proud of it and people don’t give it back to me. These people saw something else in me, not just the hockey coach. I hope people will remember a good jack. Our supporters, I always took them seriously and I went on a mission for them. People tell me that they felt that I represented them well. It’s always been a pleasure to do that.”
Friday night, he will be at the Videotron Center for game no.5 of the Gilles-Courteau Trophy final between the Quebec Remparts and the Halifax Mooseheads. It was the owner of the Océanic and grandson of Maurice Tanguay, Alexandre, who invited him.
Will he be able to line up behind the Remparts?
“If I am able? Oh come on! I’m going to be a Remparts fan on Friday! “, he says, laughing.
Océanic: “It’s time to get to work!”
Doris Labonté saw her banner hoisted from the ceiling of the Sun Life Financial Coliseum in April 2022.
Doris Labonté may not have worked for the Océanic since 2007, this organization is still close to her heart. Due to five years of treatment, he may not have been able to keep up with the team’s activities as he would have liked, but he made sure to keep an eye on the team’s progress. nicknamed “the team of an entire region”.
“I do my little stage manager, he says, laughing. Now, we’ll have to find the right characters if they want to pack for 2025. It’s time to get to work,” he adds, referring to the Oceanic’s aspirations to present the tournament of the Memorial Cup in 2025.
In agreement with Patrick Roy
DIDIER DEBUSSCHERE/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC
The exit of Patrick Roy, last Saturday, who mentioned that the QMJHL was “dinosaur” because it persisted in presenting two games in two nights in the final, pleased Doris Labonté.
“I completely agree with him. The league, before, it worked all crooked. The clubs had to sit down together to decide the schedule. I had then proposed to the league that we have a fixed calendar so that there would be no dispute. I proposed that we space out each game for a day, but the owners never wanted to because it was too much expense. Made in the final, the teams can not pay an additional night’s hotel? Let’s see. He’s right, Patrick. The league had time to space out each game.
Rivalry with Richard Martel: “it was not faked”
Intense coach, Doris Labonté had some memorable spats with colleagues, some of them with another talkative hockey man, Richard Martel. Labonté also assures that there was nothing arranged in these verbal contests.
“It wasn’t faked. I had to defend my players. I also had a fight with Benoit Groulx at one point and he came to see me at the repechage to tell me that he understood what I was doing. If we touched Sidney Crosby, the smoke rose. It was just that!”, he remembers, laughing.
Moreover, Martel asked to speak to Labonté following the announcement that he was putting an end to his treatments.
“I said, ‘let him call me, we’re going to chat!'”
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