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Former NHL coach Jacques Demers suffers stroke

Boston Bruins v Montreal Canadiens

MONTREAL- NOVEMBER 22: Former Canadiens head coach Jacques Demers speaks during the Patrick Roy retirement ceremony before the game against the Boston Bruins at the Bell Centre on November 22, 2008 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Bruins defeated the Canadiens 3-2 in a shootout. (Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images)

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Former NHL coach and current Canadian senator Jacques Demers is in stable condition after suffering a stroke on Wednesday, according to CBC.ca

Demers, 71, is a two-time Jack Adams Award winner and led the Montreal Canadiens to a Stanley Cup championship in 1993. He served in 1,007 NHL games as a head coach between his stints with Quebec, St. Louis, Detroit, Montreal, and Tampa Bay from 1979 through 1999.

His life is a story of a boy born into bad circumstances and finding success in spite of that. He came from an abusive household and left school after Grade 8. He revealed in 2005 that he was functionally illiterate.

Roughly a decade after he coached in his last NHL game, he was appointed to the Canadian senate and continues to serve in that capacity.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took to Twitter this morning to wish Demers well.