Canadiens fire head coach Ducharme, bring in St. Louis

The Montreal Canadiens have relieved Dominique Ducharme of his coaching duties and replaced him with Stanley-Cup winner Martin St. Louis on an interim basis.

“We are very happy to welcome Martin to the Canadiens organization,” Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes said in a statement. “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.”

St. Louis is a member of the hockey hall of fame and won the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004.

Ducharme was brought in by the team in Feb. 2021, and helped lead the Canadiens to their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance since 1993.

Following the Habs cup appearance, the team has put up a dismal record of 8-30-7 and sits 32nd in the NHL.

https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1491529341850763269

The Canadiens have named Martin St. Louis interim head coach.#GoHabsGohttps://t.co/L4K3X65tsS

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) February 9, 2022

The firing comes on the heels of another lopsided loss, this one a 7-1 pasting at the hands of the New Jersey Devils, who are in the bottom third of the league. The Habs allowed 33 goals in their last five games, a franchise record.

“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,” said Hughes.

Dominique Ducharme has been relieved of his head coaching duties.https://t.co/wSdkwrOMXC

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) February 9, 2022

The team has struggled with the absences of superstar goaltender Carey Price, who is recovering from knee surgery and also spent time in the NHL’s substance abuse program, as well as captain and stalwart defenceman Shea Weber.

As Sportsnet’s Eric Engels wrote after Tuesday’s game, Ducharme had “been dealt a horrible hand and even worse luck – a brutally short turnaround from the Stanley Cup Final in July, season-long injuries to his best players and having to put more bodies in COVID-19 protocol than any other team in the league.”

The team’s earlier struggles resulted in long-time general manager Marc Bergevin being fired at the end of November, with replacements Jeff Gorton (vice president of hockey operations) and Kent Hughes (general manager) inheriting the troubled franchise.

– With files from Sportsnet