Montreal Canadiens fired coach Claude Julien on Wednesday.
Dominique Ducharme has been named interim coach, and the team has added Alex Burrows, who has been with the NHL for a long time, to the coaching staff. The Canadians also fired assistant coach Kirk Muller, who was the interim coach in the 2020 playoffs, after Julien was hospitalized with chest pain and underwent a heart procedure.
The Canadiens were one of the strongest teams in the NHL to start the season and seemed to be serious challengers for the Northern Division. However, the Habs have won only two of their last eight games and been demoralized by losing back-to-back games in the shootouts to Ottawa senators living downstairs.
Montreal is 9-5-4; Although the Canadiens are eight points behind the leader of the Toronto Maple Leafs, they are still comfortable in fourth place, which would qualify for the playoffs.
Expectations have been raised this season, after general manager Marc Bergevin was extremely active in the offseason. Bergevin improved on each position, bringing in veteran backup goalkeeper Jake Allen to replace defender Joel Edmundson and bringing in several new strikers, including Tyler Toffoli (12-goal team leader) and Josh Anderson (fourth in the team with 12 points).
Julien, 60, was one of the highest paid coaches in the NHL, earning $ 5 million a season. His contract lasted the 2021-22 season.
Julien led Boston to the Stanley Cup in 2011 and ranks 13th in NHL history with 667 career wins.
“I would like to sincerely thank Claude and Kirk for their contributions to our team over the last five years we have worked together,” Bergevin said in a statement. “I have great respect for these two men whom I respect with great respect. At Dominique Ducharme, we see a very promising coach who will bring new life and new energy to our group. We feel that our team can achieve high standards and the necessary time “had come for a change”.
Ducharme, 47, has been an assistant coach in Montreal for two seasons.