In a somewhat surprising development it seems as though the Montreal Canadiens have moved on from head coach Claude Julien and associate coach Kirk Muller. The Habs have named Dominique Ducharme as the interim head coach while adding former Canuck Alex Burrows to the coaching staff. Although the incident comes off yet another loss to the Ottawa Senators, reports have said that Bergevin and the Canadiens had a plan to let go Julien prior to last nights game which saw the Canadiens lose in a shootout after a controversial goaltender interference call in the dying seconds of the third period.
I’m told that last night loss was not the final straw for Claude Julien and Kirk Muller. The decision to let them go was made before and the plan was to announced it today @CanadiensMTL
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) February 24, 2021
Although many Canadiens fans don’t seem to mind the move, much of the hockey world is still scratching there heads after the hot start the Canadiens had at the beginning of the season. Not to mention the impressive playoff run in the Toronto bubble in August.
The Canadiens have been disappointing lately however, with a 2-4-2 record in their last 8 games. Perhaps, even more disappointing is their dishonorable record against the league’s worst team; the Ottawa Senators. The Habs are 1-1-2 against the team from Canada’s capital. Unfortunately, for Habs fans, this is not the first time the Canadiens have drastically underperformed against bottom feeder teams. Many can recall the 39 point Detroit Red Wings sweeping the Canadiens in last years 2019-2020 season.
Time will tell if Ducharme and the Canadiens can turn things around, or whether Bergevin tests the market and brings in a guy like Gerard Gallant.
