Julien found the “ideal candidate” in Ducharme

BROSSARD – After meeting with Dominique Ducharme, head coach Claude Julien was immediately sold on bringing him on board.

Late Friday morning, the Canadiens made the news of Ducharme’s appointment as an assistant coach official – along with the departures of assistants Jean-Jacques Daigneault and Dan Lacroix.

A few hours later, both Julien and Ducharme met with members of the media at the Bell Sports Complex to expand upon their joining forces behind the Habs’ bench.

“In our discussion, I saw good chemistry between us from the start. His philosophy, his approach, his will to win, I liked it a lot,” praised Julien, on his extended one-on-one chat with the 45-year-old Joliette native that ultimately sealed the deal. “It was a long interview because we got along well. When you have coaches like Dominique in your backyard, you do what you can to keep them with you. I think he deserves to be with us because he has good knowledge and good experience.”

That experience, of course, includes spending the past 10 seasons coaching in the QMJHL and helming the Halifax Mooseheads to a Memorial Cup crown in 2013. He also led Team Canada to a gold medal at the World Junior Hockey Championship in January, and guided them to a silver medal in 2017. 

In short, Ducharme was eager to move on up, and when Julien came calling, Ducharme couldn’t have been more excited to listen and discuss. 

“I felt ready to take my career to the next level. To be able to come work with the Canadiens and with Claude Julien… To be a part of the team in Montreal, it’s the best situation possible for me,” said Ducharme, on reaching the NHL coaching ranks. “I didn’t play in the NHL. Getting to the NHL is something, and doing it with Montreal is something really special, for sure. I grew up with the Canadiens. There’s no better place for me to be right now.”

The University of Vermont product is already quite familiar with a few of his new troops, having coached Jonathan Drouin in Halifax, and Victor Mete and Noah Juulsen with Team Canada as well. 

Ducharme is already anticipating the reunion come training camp in September.

“Those guys know me, I know them, and you get to know the other guys. The transition might be easier,” explained Ducharme. “I’m excited to be working with Jo, but I’m excited to be working with the other guys, too.”

As for the focus of Ducharme’s work under Julien, it will primarily be on improving things up front.

“I’m going to be working with the forwards, looking at the other teams and looking at adjustments. It’s still early, and I know once we get the group and the coaching staff together, there will be more defining to that. I feel I can have an impact. I feel I can be part of the solution. I’m happy about that,” stressed Ducharme, when asked about his new role. “For me, it was important to feel like I could have an impact.”

Video: Dominique Ducharme’s message to Habs fans

For his part, Julien believes Ducharme will do just that in short order.

“Dominique has a good vision of the game and a good handle of making adjustments as we go. I’m going to have him beside me. He’ll be in the heat of the action. He was the ideal candidate for what I was looking for,” concluded Julien. “He’s going to be a second pair of eyes that will help me a lot.”