Jean Hamel

Joseph Jean Pierre Hamel, born June 6, 1952, in Asbestos, Quebec, was a Canadian professional ice hockey player whose National Hockey League career spanned 699 games over 12 seasons. As a youth, he played in the 1965 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Asbestos. He went on to skate for the St. Louis Blues, Detroit Red Wings, Quebec Nordiques, and Montreal Canadiens. He was the brother of fellow NHL player Gilles Hamel.

Hamel retired from professional hockey in 1984 as a direct result of two serious eye injuries sustained while playing for the Canadiens that year. The first came from Louis Sleigher's sucker punch during the April 20 "Good Friday Massacre," and the second occurred during an October 4 pre-season match.

Upon his retirement, the Canadiens organization hired Hamel as an assistant coach with their new Sherbrooke Canadiens farm team in the American Hockey League. He served as assistant coach, and later head coach, throughout the entire six seasons the Sherbrooke Canadiens existed as a franchise. During his final two years as head coach, the team finished first overall in the AHL for the 1988–89 and 1989–90 seasons.