Marcel Comeau

Marcel Comeau (born March 1, 1952) is a Canadian ice hockey scout, and former player, coach, and National Hockey League team executive. He played eleven seasons in the International Hockey League (IHL), where he was the league's top scorer and won the IHL Most Valuable Player Award in 1981. He later coached in the Western Hockey League (WHL), winning two WHL Coach of the Year Awards, and a Canadian Hockey League Coach of the Year Award. He also led Team Canada to a gold medal at the 1996 World Juniors, and later served as a team executive for the Atlanta Thrashers, and the Winnipeg Jets.

Early life Marcel Comeau was born on March 1, 1952, in Edmonton, Alberta. His parents, Emile and Anita Comeau, moved to Ponoka and operated the local Massey Ferguson retailer. He played minor ice hockey in town and attended Ponoka Composite High School. He played shortstop on the Ponoka Royals fast-pitch softball club as a youth, and played semi-professional softball in summers.

Playing career Comeau was a centreman during his playing career, listed at 6 feet (183 cm) and 165 pounds (75 kg) with a right-hand shot. He finished the 1970–71 season playing 11 games with the Edmonton Oil Kings in the Western Canada Hockey League. Comeau led the league with 82 assists in the 1980–81 IHL season, led the league with 126 points and won the Leo P. Lamoureux Memorial Trophy as the top scorer, was named a first-team all-star, and won the James Gatschene Memorial Trophy as the IHL's most valuable player. The team was inducted into the Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame in 2014. He became a full-time coach with the Calgary Wranglers for the 1983–84 WHL season. Comeau led Saskatoon to second place in the east division with 42 wins, and into the third round of the 1988–89 WHL season playoffs. Saskatoon was leading in the third period of the Memorial Cup championship game, but were defeated 4–3 in overtime by Swift Current. Comeau served five seasons total with the Rockets, four of those in Tacoma, and a fifth season being the team's first year as the Kelowna Rockets in the 1995–96 WHL season. Two years later he was head coach of the Canada men's national junior ice hockey team at the 1996 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, which won a fourth consecutive gold medal at the World Juniors. Canada finished the round-robin winning all four games, defeated Russia 4–3 in the semifinals, and defeated Sweden 4–1 in the finals. In 2015, Comeau stepped down from his position, but remained with the Jets as an amateur scout.

Playing statistics Season-by-season career playing statistics.

Coaching record Season-by-season career coaching record.