The Montreal Canadiens fired head coach Dominique Ducharme on Wednesday afternoon and named Hockey Hall of Famer Martin St. Louis as interim coach.
Ducharme led the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup Final last season, but Montreal has the NHL’s worst record this season.
Ducharme, 48, leaves with a 23-46-14 record that includes an 8-30-7 mark in 2021-22. The Canadiens’ 7-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night was their seventh straight and 13th in their last 14 games.
“We would like to sincerely thank Dominique for his work and contributions to the Montreal Canadiens organization,” general manager Kent Hughes said. “At this point in the season, we felt it was in the best interest of the club to make a change.”
St. Louis, 46, recorded 391 goals and 642 assists over a 16-year career with the Calgary Flames, Tampa Bay Lightning New York Rangers. He also won the Stanley Cup in 2004 with the Lightning and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Nov. 12, 2018.
“We are very happy to welcome Martin to the Canadiens organization,” Hughes said. “Not only are we adding an excellent hockey man, but with Martin we are bringing in a proven winner and a man whose competitive qualities are recognized by all who have crossed his path.”
Ducharme took over as interim coach after the firing of Claude Julien last February. Ducharme was formally named the head coach in July.
During its 2021 playoff run, Montreal knocked off the Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets and Vegas Golden Knights to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1993. The Canadiens lost in five games to the Lightning.
The team said its assistant coaches would remain with the club. That group includes Alex Burrows, Eric Gravel, Mario Leblanc, Trevor Letowski, Eric Raymond and Luke Richardson.
St. Louis will be introduced Thursday.
–Field Level Media
