Paul Gagne, who had a lengthy and successful career in the National Hockey League and went on to coach the NOJHL’s Iroquois Falls Eskimos and Timmins Rock, has passed away, at age 63. Photo by FILE /The Daily Press
The highlight of Gagne’s coaching career was the NOJHL championship his Eskimos won after compiling a regular-season record of 50-11-5-1 during the 2009-10 campaign
Thomas Perry
The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
The hockey world is mourning the loss of longtime player, coach and general manager Paul Gagne, who passed away on Sunday.
Gagne, who was 63 at the time of his death, was an Iroquois Falls product who enjoyed a lengthy and successful National Hockey League career.
He began his Junior ‘A’ coaching career when the Timmins Golden Bears franchise moved to Iroquois Falls and became known as the Abitibi Eskimos, but his first coaching experience came with EHC Biel-Bienne, of the National League B in Switzerland during the 1996-97 season.
After the NOJHL franchise relocated back to Timmins following the 2014-15 season and became known as the Rock, Gagne remained at the helm until he retired from coaching following the 2016-17 campaign.
The highlight of Gagne’s coaching career was the NOJHL championship his Eskimos won after compiling a regular-season record of 50-11-5-1 during the 2009-10 campaign.
“In 2009-10, we played in the Dudley Hewitt Cup tournament in Sault Ste. Marie and we only lost 11 games that season,” he said, after announcing his retirement.
“We also hosted the Dudley Hewitt Cup in Iroquois Falls (2007-08) and that was also a highlight, but to be honest with you when I get an email or a text message from one of the players I coached who has become a lawyer or a teacher, he has gotten married and he has three kids, those are the real highlights.
“A couple of years ago, when we were still in Iroquois Falls, we had an alumni game with a couple of teams of players. You are looking at 40 ex-players, who live in the area.”
Nothing in the hockey world put a bigger smile on his face, however, than working with local youngsters at the Paul Gagne Hockey Development Camp each summer.
As a player, Gagne produced a dominating season for his hometown Eskimos, scoring 45 goals and adding 40 assists in his lone NOJHL campaign, 1977-78.
He then graduated the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires for two seasons, with his 48 goals and 101 points in 1979-80 drawing the attention of NHL scouts.
As a result, he was selected in the first round, 19th overall, by the Colorado Rockies in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft.
His rookie campaign, in 1980-81, saw him score 25 goals and add16 assists.
Gagne spent one more season in Colorado before relocating with the team to New Jersey prior to the 1982-83 campaign.
He would later spend one season with the Toronto Maple Leafs and another with the New York Islanders before moving to Europe to conclude his playing career.
He finished with 390 NHL regular-season games played, 110 goals and 101 assists, while serving 127 minutes in the penalty box.
“Hockey has been good to me,” said Gagne, who had been involved in the sport since he put on his first pair of skates as a four year old, at the time of his retirement.
“I left home at 16 years old to play in Windsor and it has been hockey ever since.”
Gagne is survived by his wife, Brenda, and his children, Martine (Matt) and Steven (Julia), as well as his granddaughter, Lena Paula Stella.
He is also survived by his brother Roger (Lynn), a former trainer with the Eskimos and Rock, sister-in-law Jackie Gagne, sister-in-law Carla Gagnon (Serge), brother-in-law Paul Piccotti (Katherine), his nieces and nephews and his very dear friends Dale and Des Quinn and Rock and Rosanne Foy.
A celebration of his life will take place in the new year, according to his obituary.
