The Montreal Canadiens fired coach Claude Julien on Wednesday.
Dominique Ducharme was named interim coach, and the team added to its coach Alex Burrows, a longtime NHL winger. The Canadians also fired assistant coach Kirk Muller, who served as interim coach in the 2020 playoffs after Julien was hospitalized with chest pains and underwent a heart procedure.
The Canadians were one of the hottest teams in the NHL to start the season and seemed to be seriously challenging for the Northern Division. However, the Habs have only won two of their last eight games and were demoralized by losing consecutive games in the shootout against the Ottawa Senators.
Montreal is 9-5-4; although the Canadians are eight points behind division leader Toronto Maple Leafs, they remain comfortably in fourth place, which would qualify for the playoffs.
Expectations rose this season after general manager Marc Bergevin was extremely active in the offseason. Bergevin improved in all positions, incorporating veteran secondary goalkeeper Jake Allen, replacing defender Joel Edmundson and incorporating several new strikers, including Tyler Toffoli (team leader in 12 goals) and Josh Anderson (team quarter with 12 points).
Julien, 60, was one of the highest paid coaches in the NHL and earned $ 5 million per season. His contract lasted the 2021-22 season.
Julien led Boston to the Stanley Cup in 2011 and ranked 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 worked together,” Bergevin said in a statement. “I have great respect for these two men whom I love very much. At Dominique Ducharme, we see a very promising coach who will bring new life and new energy to our group. We believe our team can meet high standards and a high time had come for a change “.
Ducharme, 47, has been an assistant coach in Montreal for two seasons.