Former Erie Otters coach Paul Theriault dies at age 73
Few are more qualified to speak of Paul Theriault’s hockey life than Sherry Bassin.
The former Erie Otters owner hired Theriault as an Ontario Hockey League coach not once, but twice.
Theriault, whose 15 seasons in that specific role included the 1998-99 Otters, died last Wednesday. The Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, resident was 73.
Multiple Canadian media outlets reported Theriault had been in declining health for more than a decade. He was forced to retire when he started to suffer daily effects from a concussion while playing for Michigan’s Lake Superior State hockey team in the early 1970s.
Bassin, 84, spoke with the Erie Times-News on Sunday. While he was aware of Theriault’s poor health long before last Wednesday, that didn’t make the news less painful.
“Paul could run a coaching seminar,” Bassin said, “but he was a phenomenally good person too. Phenomenal. If you knew him, you loved him.”
A leader of Generals
Theriault was the 10th-winningest coach in OHL history at the time of his retirement. The brunt of his 476-368-8 career record was compiled with the Oshawa Generals.
Bassin was Oshawa’s general manager when he hired Theriault in 1979. Bassin said he sought Theriault to the point he allowed Theriault to stay at Bassin’s home until the team’s new coach could find his own residence.
The hire, though, proved successful for the Generals. Bassin and Theriault watched them win 350 games, plus the league’s 1983 and 1987 Robertson Cup playoffs, over the ensuing 11 seasons.
“Paul demanded — demanded — detail,” Bassin said. “He demanded that the players play his way, and they understood that. It wasn’t his way or the highway, but it was his way if you wanted to play.”
Bassin said Theriault also rarely used a whistle during practices.
The coach’s voice, while shrill, was still authoritative enough to gain the players’ attention.
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Erie among later stops
Bassin owned the OHL’s Niagara Falls (Ontario) Thunder in the mid-1990s. When the East Coast Hockey League’s Erie Panthers moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1996, he opted to move his franchise to northwestern Pennsylvania and rename it the Otters.
It was the summer of 1998 when Bassin, following Chris Johnstone and Dale Dunbar, lobbied Theriault to become Erie’s third coach in as many seasons.
By then, Theriault’s career had reached a pinnacle as an NHL assistant coach. He was part of Ted Nolan’s staff for the 1996-97 Buffalo Sabres.
However, Theriault agreed to return to the OHL ranks with the 1998-99 Otters.
That season, Erie finished 31-33-4-0 in the Midwest Division. The Otters qualified for the league’s Western Conference playoffs but were eliminated by the Guelph Storm in the first round.
Theriault left Erie after one season when the OHL coaching job opened for his hometown Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
The same Greyhounds franchise he coached for in 1978-79, which was the season before he departed for Oshawa.
Theriault’s OHL coaching career concluded after two more seasons with the ‘Hounds. His last coaching tenure was with the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Soo Eagles from 2008-10.
While Theriault’s coaching career ended that year, Bassin’s friendship continued until last week.
“If you wanted to talk hockey, he was brilliant at it,” Bassin said. “If you wanted to talk anything else, he was respectable at that too.”
“Anybody who knew Paul will miss him.”
Donations accepted
A memorial service for Theriault, who was survived by his wife, Janice, will be held on a date to be determined. Arrangements are being handled by Northwood Funeral Home Cremation and Reception Centre, 942 Great Northern Road, Sault Ste. Marie.
Donations in Theriault’s name can be made online at northwoodfuneralhome.com.
Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNcopper.
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This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Paul Theriault, who coached the 1998-99 Erie Otters, dies at 73
