The Montreal CanadiensThe team announced Wednesday that Dominique Ducharme, head coach, has been fired. Later in the day, the club will announce its replacement.
Kent Hughes, general manager, said that Dominique’s contributions to the Montreal Canadiens team were greatly appreciated. “At this point of the season, we felt that it was in the club’s best interest to make a shift.”
Ducharme was promoted to head coach of Montreal on July 31, 2021 after signing a three year deal that eliminated his interim label. Ducharme, who had joined the Canadiens in 2018, as an assistant coach, was promoted to replace fired coach Claude Julien. In February 2021, he signed a longer-term pact.
Ducharme, who was the interim head coach, led the Canadiens’ unlikely Stanley Cup Final appearance in last season’s NHL pandemic-shortened campaign. Montreal is now a shadow of its former self, with an 8-30-7 record in the NHL.
Ducharme was fired on Tuesday after the Canadiens’ 7-1 loss against New Jersey. Montreal now has a total of 23-46-12 points for Ducharme, the 48-year-old.
This is the second major shift in the Canadiens’ season. First was general manager Marc BergevinIn November, Hughes was relieved of his duties and Jeff Gorton was hired as the executive vice president of hockey operations. Hughes was appointed general manager by the Canadiens last month. Hughes has spent most of his career working as a player representative.
Status of Montreal’s assistant coaches Alex Burrows, Éric Gravel, Mario Leblanc, Trevor Letowski, Éric Raymond and Luke Richardson remains unchanged.