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Montreal Canadiens Fire Dominique Ducharme

February 9, 2022 at 1:47 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 20 Comments

The new front office leadership of the Montreal Canadiens has made their first big move. Dominique Ducharme has been relieved of his duties as head coach, effective immediately. His replacement will be named later today according to the team and the status of the assistant coaches has not been changed. Kent Hughes, Montreal’s new GM, released a statement:

We would like to sincerely thank Dominique for his work and contributions to the Montreal Canadiens organization. At this point in the season, we felt it was in the best interest of the club to make a change. 

Ducharme, 48, took over as head coach of the Canadiens in February of last year when Claude Julien was let go and ended up leading the team all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. Even during that run there were questions about whether he was the right person to continue leading the Canadiens, but the interim tag was eventually removed and Ducharme signed a three-year contract extension in July. That deal keeps him under contract through the 2023-24 season but he will no longer be behind the Canadiens bench as Hughes and Jeff Gorton start to put their stamp on the team.

It’s been a disastrous year for Montreal, with the leadership group in tatters after Shea Weber and Carey Price were sidelined by injury and players like Phillip Danault were lost to free agency. The team has cratered in the standings and on the ice, with some players even showing a lack of effort at times. The Canadiens are 8-30-7 on the season and were embarrassed by the New Jersey Devils last night, losing 7-1 on home ice. The final goal last night was scored by Tomas Tatar, notably a player that was scratched in the playoffs by Ducharme last year.

If the Canadiens hire someone else to take over as head coach right away, they would actually be paying three people for that job. Julien’s contract, which carried a $5MM salary, is still on the books for this season. That, plus the $1.7MM that Ducharme is believed to earn, is certainly not an insignificant amount to a team that has also dealt with attendance restrictions this season and will continue to do so for the next few weeks.

Interestingly enough, Gorton–who was given the role of executive vice president of hockey operations after Marc Bergevin was let go–actually told reporters earlier this season that he would not be making a coaching change until the summer. That plan has obviously changed with Hughes’ addition and the continued losses piling up in Montreal.

The Canadiens have a big offseason ahead of them that includes hosting the draft where they currently hold 11 selections. That number could grow as the trade deadline approaches, though there aren’t a ton of expiring contracts on the books. Whoever does take over as head coach will certainly not be able to bring the team back from the hole they’ve dug themselves, meaning it could very well be an interim position for the rest of this season.

Jean-Charles Lajoie of TVA Sports was to report that Ducharme had been fired. 

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Dominique Ducharme| Montreal Canadiens| Newsstand

Snapshots: Halak, Almari, Crouse
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Montreal Canadiens Hire Martin St. Louis As Interim Head Coach
View Comments (20)

Comments

  1. bigdaddyt

    3 years ago

    Why though

    Reply
  2. amk1920

    3 years ago

    Biggest fluke Cup run in history. If the Leafs don’t collapse, Ducharme would already have been an assistant elsewhere.

    2
    Reply
    • slimmycito

      3 years ago

      Leafs have collapsed every year since 1967 buddy lmao.

      2
      Reply
    • slimmycito

      3 years ago

      That’s literally older than my mother, and I’m 30 lol.

      Reply
  3. sovietcanuckistanian

    3 years ago

    I really do believe he was brought in in hopes of connecting w/Drouin from thier time in Halifax. That clearly didn’t turn out well.

    Reply
  4. jdgoat

    3 years ago

    Please hire your French guy, Guy Boucher. We need to see just how crazy this circus can get.

    1
    Reply
  5. Al Hirschen

    3 years ago

    David Quinn

    Reply
  6. Al Hirschen

    3 years ago

    It’s time to bring this team into the world of analytics And run this team based off of analytics

    Reply
    • Joe Carters walkoff

      3 years ago

      Its also probably time to stop searching for a french speaking coach. Find and Hire the best coach available, period. Hire a translator if you must

      3
      Reply
    • Al Hirschen

      3 years ago

      If the best coach is from Russia and don’t speak French YOU HIRE THEM.

      1
      Reply
  7. Swiney50

    3 years ago

    Ted Nolan FTW

    Reply
  8. brucenewton

    3 years ago

    New guy will be francophone, that’s all we know. Maybe Julien yet again.

    2
    Reply
  9. Ol' Voodoo

    3 years ago

    Alain Vigneault

    2
    Reply
    • 66TheNumberOfTheBest

      3 years ago

      I was actually thinking earlier today that MTL might very well hire Vigneault after he gets fired.

      Totally forgot, he already did…for Mike Freaking Yeo???

      I would place a small bet on him getting the job due to crossover with Gorton in NY.

      1
      Reply
  10. Bucky76

    3 years ago

    Ben Groulx from Tampa’s farm team he needs a shot..

    Reply
  11. Al Hirschen

    3 years ago

    Kevin Weekes
    @KevinWeekes
    ·
    6m
    I’m told my former
    @TBLightning
    teammates and
    @HockeyHallFame
    member the great
    @mstlouis_26
    is joining the
    @CanadiensMTL
    as their new Head Coach.
    @espn

    @NHLNetwork

    @TSNHockey
    #HockeyTwitter

    1
    Reply
    • 66TheNumberOfTheBest

      3 years ago

      Has he ever coached anything besides his kids’ teams?

      If not, hiring him to turn around a team sinking like a lead brick in the most pressure packed market in hockey is literally insane.

      Reply
  12. Double IPA

    3 years ago

    Feel bad for St. Louis as the Habs are a train wreck on ice.

    Reply
  13. padam

    3 years ago

    Don’t squeeze Ducharme. There, I said it.

    1
    Reply
  14. uvmfiji

    3 years ago

    Ducharme and St. Louis played together at the University of Vermont. Hab fans will also remember former UVMer John Leclair. Go Cats Go!!!

    Reply

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