Departing Minnesota Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said today it’s unclear whether he’ll remain in hockey as a coach. But if he does coach, he said, it won’t be in Montreal, where he became a hall of fame player and has a home.

“I would not go there,” he said. “You don’t want to spend (with media) 20 minutes on hockey and 40 minutes on what surrounds the game. Not as a coach.”

In Montreal, Lemaire said, the media want to know “what kind of shorts I’m wearing before the game.”

— Lemaire was hesitant when asked about chances of free agent Marian Gaborik returning to Minnesota.

Lemaire, who is walking away from $1.5 million he had left for next season on his contract, also said even if Gaborik had accepted an eight-year, $64 million contract offer made earlier this season, that wouldn’t have affected his decision to resign.

“No, no, no, not at all,” he said.

Lemaire is believed to be hockey’s highest-paid coach.

— Houston Aeros coach Kevin Constantine, who is from International Falls, has long has been rumored as a Wild coach prospect. If Constantine were to get the job, which seems unlikely, Wild fans could expect an even more defensive trap style of hockey than Lemaire’s.

— Popular Wild assistant Mike Ramsey said today he doesn’t consider himself a serious candidate to succeed Lemaire.