Montreal Canadiens coach Dominique Ducharme tests positive for COVID-19 before Game 3 against Vegas Golden Knights
Ducharme #Ducharme
Montreal Canadiens interim head coach Dominique Ducharme has tested positive for COVID-19 and is isolating at home as his team prepares to face the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 3.
Assistant coach Luke Richardson will run the bench with Alex Burrows and director of goaltending Sean Burke in Ducharme’s absence. Richardson has head coaching experience in the American Hockey League.
“I’ve talked to Dom twice today. He’s doing fine,” general manager Marc Bergevin told reporters. “As far as long he’s going to be out, we’re dealing and talking to Health Quebec and also NHL protocol, so it’s an ongoing situation, so I can’t tell you how long.”
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The Canadiens canceled Ducharme’s pregame news conference Friday after a test from Thursday came back with a presumptive positive result. A second test confirmed the positive.
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The league said that all other Canadiens and Golden Knights players and staff have tested negative.
The Canadiens and Golden Knights are tied 1-1 in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup semifinal with Game 3 scheduled for Friday night in Montreal at 8 p.m ET. The Canadiens earned the split after a 3-2 win in Game 2 in Las Vegas.
Ducharme was promoted to interim head coach from assistant after the firing of Claude Julien on Feb. 24.
Under Ducharme, the Canadiens finished fourth in the all-Canadian North Division before upsetting the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets in the first two playoff rounds.
Contributing: The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Montreal Canadiens coach Dominique Ducharme tests positive for COVID-19 before Game 3 against Vegas Golden Knights