By now the news that Jason Fortier is going off to Rouyn-Noranda of the QMJHL is old, but I thought I'd put together a few words about what I think of him, as he leaves the OJHL to Frencher pastures.
Back in the early summer of 2011, I had returned to the GTA from Waterloo where I did my undergrad at Laurier, and I decided that after a couple of years working in the OHL and in Ontario University hockey I would love to find a decent level team to write articles for while I waited to start my post-grad at Centennial College.
I emailed around a couple of teams, including the Jr. Canadiens, and St. Mike's, but got no response. Finally I came across the Vaughan Vipers, which made sense since I lived in Vaughan at the time (though not super close to the rink), and fired off an email with pretty much no expectation of any sort of response. Except this time I got one.
It was from Jason Fortier, who said that he'd be happy to have me out to do whatever I could. I went out to the Al Paladini Community Centre, where the Vipers played, and wrote some game reports, and some player features, and it was a pretty good time getting to know some of the guys. But that really is Fortier to a tee: when other people in the league don't want to bother, don't want to reply to you, Jason will if you are passionate and willing to do your best.
Eventually I ended up realizing that Vaughan had a guy (the great Steve Mitchell, of course) who filmed the games, but had nobody doing play by play. Growing up, I would go to the Hockey Hall of Fame and do the play by play booth there and love it, so I figured, what the heck, why not ask Forch if I could do it. I wasn't sure what he'd say, but once again, if you're willing to do your best, then you're ok with Forch - and he said that it would be a great idea.
So I got into it, and I've done it ever since.
But enough about me.
It is common knowledge that Jason Fortier's personality isn't for everyone. Those that are loyal to him are fiercely so, and those that dislike him, well, are also fiercely in that category. But what cannot be overlooked is the job he does while coaching junior hockey players, and preparing them for the next level.
My favourite thing about his coaching philosophy is that he's sort of like a junior hockey version of the Seattle Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll. What I mean by that, is that he truly believes in intentionally creating a pack of competition crazy players; he makes little tournaments, little games in addition to practice that promotes a hyper competitive attitude among his squad, so that when it comes down to crunch time, whether it's Game 7 of the finals, or down 5-0 in the first period of the semifinal at the Dudley Hewitt Cup, his players are so used to battling each other, that the other team's best is just normalcy. That was, as with everything in coaching, dependant on the players buying in and executing, but the tone he intentionally sets is undeniable.
When it comes to the Xs and Os of hockey and its systems, he truly does ooze knowledge. He lives and breathes for hockey, so his players always can know that he quickly understands what's going on out there and that they will be prepared for the opposition. And really, when you ask players, the importance of having a coach that understands preparation cannot be understated.
Players also never need to worry about where they stand with Forch, because for better or for worse he'll tell you. He'll especially tell you for worse, but take a lack of words as a compliment. I believe this demonstrates a key part of his player-handling philosophy: that he genuinely cares enough for his players to put aside the need to feel that they like him, and instead he focuses on them being accountable for being a better player and person.
Another big reason in my mind how Forch led the Pats to the title two years in a row, is his ability to let losses roll off him. Pretty much every team will go on a losing streak at some point, but how quickly you can healthily come to terms with losses, and take them in perspective will go a long way in determining how quickly the streak will end. Forch did that in a masterful way, and his players responded to setbacks and failure the last two years incredibly well.
So now he heads off to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, a team that was in the middle of the playoff pack last year despite being quite young. As such, they have a ton of quality returning, so look out Q.
My relationship with Jason Fortier has not always been easy, but he has always done his best to vouch for me and get me opportunities, so for that I am grateful. There are a ton of things that I admire about him, and the job that he and his staff did the past two years cannot be adequately covered in this blog post. Yet the way the Pats players responded to hearing that he wouldn't be back next year is telling; as a group they truly loved playing under him.
So here's to Mr. Fortier, the best coach in the OJHL in the last two years.
