Colombe Lacroix is proud of her family and grateful for the life her late husband gave her.
“We owe everything to the world of hockey,” she says bluntly.
“Pierre was a self-made man [autodidacte]. He had incredible intuitions. He was a visionary. I was lucky to live with him. I would do the same thing if I had to do it again.”
“I had a great life. Pierre will always be the man of my life. It was half of me that went with him. In the first few days after he left, I walked back and forth between Eric’s and my sister’s houses.
“Then at some point I saw that I could live on my own. I take the days one at a time, I have good children and good friends.
“Life is beautiful.”
Versatile man
Between his first job at the tobacco company Rothmans and the founding of his agency Jandec, Lacroix was head of sports promotion at the O’Keefe Brewery.
“The funny thing is, he never smoked or drank in his life!” says Eric, laughing.
“I wonder what kind of salesman he was,” he adds humorously, knowing that his father excelled at everything he did.
His father was a gregarious character and sales was in his blood.
He was working with O’Keefe when Laval National goalie Robert Sauvé, who was drafted by the Buffalo Sabers, entrusted him with the direction of his career. His second client was Mike Bossy, also a color bearer for the Laval team who eventually moved to the New York Islanders.
Lacroix balanced the two positions as his customer base grew. He represented most of Quebec’s top hockey players in the NHL in the 1980s and 1990s.
Family atmosphere throughout
His company Jandec was there 24 hours a day, seven days a week from January to December for Patrick Roy, Vincent Damphousse, Pierre Turgeon, Michel Goulet and his other foals.
Lacroix ran his business with a father’s hand.
“His protégés were like our sons,” says Colombe Lacroix.
“Pierre Turgeon was 12 years old when he left Abitibi to live with us during the hockey season. Eric, Martin and him were like brothers. They are united forever.”
In Pierre Lacroix’s eyes, it was important to maintain a family atmosphere in relationships with his protégés. He maintained this atmosphere with his staff and his players as general manager in the NHL. It was common for his players’ children to come onto the ice after practice.
It was Christmas before Christmas!
One day Lacroix drove me to an avalanche clinic. When the practice ended, several children joined their father’s hockey players on the ice.
Everyone had fun under the proud eyes of the boss.