Canadiens Fire Dominique Ducharme, New Coach To Be Named Today

In the middle of one of the worst seasons in the storied history of the franchise, the Montreal Canadiens have fired head coach Dominique Ducharme the team announced early Wednesday afternoon.

“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,” Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes said in a statement.

Hughes also said that the status of assistant coaches Alex Burrows, Éric Gravel, Mario Leblanc, Trevor Letowski, Éric Raymond, and Luke Richardson remains unchanged. and that a new head coach will be announced later on Wednesday.

A day after another embarrassing loss for the Montreal Canadiens, head coach Ducharme did not address the media after the Canadiens practice Wednesday. Instead, per the request of the local media covering the Montreal Canadiens, it was Assistant Coach Luke Richardson who faced the music and fielded questions from reporters via Zoom.

Following a 7-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils, the Montreal Canadiens (8-30-7, 23 pts) are now mired in a seven-game losing streak (0-5-2) and remain dead last in the NHL. The Habs have allowed five goals or more in five straight games and are being outscored 40-13 during this current extended losing streak.

Since being named head coach in February 2021, Ducharme registered a 23-46-14 record in 83 regular-season games as head coach of the Montreal Canadiens. In the playoffs, he posted a 13-6 record in 19 games and led the Canadiens to their first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 1993 when they beat the Los Angeles Kings for their 24th Stanley Cup.