A historic victory

MONTREAL – Twenty years ago today, Michel Therrien, Francis Bouillon and the Granby Predateurs compelled a new page to be written in the QMJHL history books.

The city of Granby, Quebec was swept up by the winds of change during the 1995-96 season. After Jean-Claude and Georges Morrissette took control of the Bisons – Granby’s Quebec Major Junior League franchise – the brothers decided that the team required a renovation.

First came a new team-name, then a complete overhaul of the logo and team colors followed shortly thereafter. But the most important change for the new look Granby Predateurs came behind the bench, where the brothers had the perfect person in mind for the job; Michel Therrien. The same head coach that the Morrissette brothers had hired just a few years earlier to run the Laval Titans.

Therrien wasn’t the only export coming over from the North Shore, as the bench boss was followed closely behind by a few of his former Titans, including the reliable rearguard Francis Bouillon. Given the closeness of their preexisting relationship in Laval, Therrien did not hesitate long before electing his trusted 20-year-old blue-liner as team captain. In fact, both coach and player can vividly recall a particular meeting before the start of training camp where the fiery coach gave his new captain a significant assignment.

“Michel told me, ‘Frank, you’re going be my new captain and you will be the first since Guy Lafleur to bring the Memorial Cup back to Quebec.’” It was a very special and touching moment. In saying this, he expressed that he had confidence in me. That is pretty challenging in itself. That conversation will remain etched in my memory for the rest of my life,” tells Bouillon, who played under Therrien throughout his four-year career in the QMJHL and once again when the pair reunited for stints with Fredericton and Quebec City in the AHL before ultimately reaching the pinnacle together with the Canadiens in the NHL. “It was a vote of confidence and he caught me by surprise with it. I was a leader with the Titans so by the time I arrived in Granby I was already a 20-year-old veteran. He knew he had a lot of talent in Granby, but he wanted me to bring in that winning attitude that I had developed back in Laval. Michel’s biggest strength …

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