Montreal Canadiens
Canadiens Hire Dominique Ducharme as Coach, Offer Fair 3-Yr Deal
Dominique Ducharme has been given a three-year extension to become the Montreal Canadiens full-time head coach.
Dominique Ducharme has been officially named the new Montreal Canadiens full-time head coach. The interim tag was removed from his name on Tuesday and he was given a new three-year deal believed to be worth $1.7 M per season on average. In the world of NHL coaches salaries being an uncertainly and many salaries expected to go down, this is a good deal for a first-time, full time NHL head coach.
Pierre LeBrun reports, “Fairly confident in saying Ducharme was getting this regardless of the run to the Cup final. But it certainly didn’t hurt.” The fact he came in part way through last season, took over a team that was struggling compared to expectations and then helped usher that team to the Stanley Cup Final had to have given the Canadiens motivation to get this deal done now. It also likely made them comfortable in knowing this was the right decision.
Ducharme, 48, took the role of interim head coach on February 24, 2021. He served as an assistant coach for two seasons under Claude Julien. After taking over, the Canadiens posted a 15-16-7 record in the regular season. It wasn’t great, but it was his postseason run that stood out.
GM Marc Bergevin said of the signing:
“Dominique has managed to set his system in place and establish himself as a head coach in a very unusual season with challenging circumstances. While our team has gone through its fair share of adversity, he has shown a lot of control over the situation as well as showing calm and great leadership. These are important qualities that we look for in a head coach and he fully deserves the chance to lead our team and take it to the next level.”
Ducharme Earned the Player’s Respect
In a short period of time, the players on the Canadiens roster came to really enjoy playing for Ducharme and he quickly earned their respect. It wasn’t perfect, as Jesperi Kotkaniemi didn’t get as much playing time as he might have liked, but the players were vocal in their praise of the coach during exit meetings and media avails to end the season.
Eric Engels wrote on July 9th, “One common theme throughout today: Canadiens players giving Dominique Ducharme their full endorsement. I know a player asked about his coach will tend to say nice things. But the guys have been quite elaborate on how they feel Ducharme brought value to their group.”
That too was probably key in the Canadiens’ decision to not only bring him back, but give him a decent deal for the next three years.
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