Maurice Filion, a hockey coach and former general manager for the Quebec Nordiques, has died. He was 85 years old.
Filion, a Montreal native, was with the Nordiques from the team’s very beginning.
He was hired in 1972 and quickly made his way up the ladder — going from recruter, to head coach, to general manager in just two years.
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Filion transitioned into the National Hockey League with the Nordiques, following the collapse of the World Hockey Association in 1979.
He remained the team’s GM until 1988 when he was made vice-president of hockey operations. He again led the team as GM in 1990 following the firing of Martin Madden in February of that year.
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He left the Nordiques for good in the summer of 1990, but remained involved in the Quebec sporting world.
Filion was the president of the Laval University football team, as well as the head of player safety in Quebec’s Junior Major Hockey League (LHJMQ), before officially retiring in 2005.
The LHJMQ trophy for excellence awarded to the leagues’ best GM, was named in Filion’s honour dating back to 2006.
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