MONTREAL - Former Montreal Canadiens coach Jacques Demers was in stable condition Friday, two days after having a stroke.

Sandra Sciangula of the McGill University Health Centre said the 71-year-old Demers, now a Canadian senator, had improved to the point that doctors were planning to move him out of intensive care and into the inpatient stroke unit.

''Senator Demers' family is at his bedside and they are able to interact with him,'' Sciangula said. ''The family appreciates the extraordinary care deployed by the medical team and thanks the public for the respect demonstrated for their privacy.''

Demers, who coached the Canadiens to the 1993 Stanley Cup title, is a patient of the team's current doctor, David Mulder.

Demers also coached Quebec, Detroit, St. Louis and Tampa Bay in the NHL, and Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Quebec in the WHA. He quit the Conservative caucus several months ago to sit as an independent.

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