The phone number is unfamiliar, but the warm French-Canadian accent on the line is unmistakably that of the Minnesota Wild’s first head coach.
“AH-lo, Murph? … Jacques Lemaire. Comment allez-vous?”
Well. And about to get much better.
For the next half-hour, the retired Hall of Famer reminisces about a time 20 years ago when Minnesota and the hockey world were smitten with a third-year expansion team that staged a pair of playoff comebacks for the ages.
After rallying from 3-1 series deficits to vanquish Colorado and Vancouver, the 2002-03 Wild remain the franchise’s emotional touchstone and postseason albatross — a deep well of pride and lasting chagrin for a team that hasn’t advanced past the second round since.
Memories have faded, but the seminal moments remain crystal clear for Lemaire, who lives in Palmetto, Fla., with Mychele, his wife of 55 years, and their Cuban Havanese, Lily.
“It was my best time as a coach,” Lemaire says without hesitation.
Here was a 10-time Stanley Cup winner as a player and executive with the Montreal Canadiens before leading New Jersey to a championship as head coach in 1995.
The upstart 2003 Wild? They were a novelty act. Industry disruptors who overcame creeping self-doubt to slay giants that spring as they turned West Seventh…
