Former Halifax Mooseheads head coach Dominique Ducharme will be working behind the bench for the Montreal Canadiens next season.
The Canadiens announced on Friday that Ducharme has been hired as an assistant coach. The team also announced they have let go assistants Jean-Jacques Daigneault and Dan Lacroix.
“With Dominique, we are very confident that we hired an excellent coach, a man who proved himself at the junior level in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League,” said general manager Marc Bergevin in a statement.”
“Furthermore, his experience on the international stage with Hockey Canada has given him valuable knowledge which will allow him to make the jump to the professional ranks. We are very happy to have him join the Canadiens’ organization.”
READ MORE: Halifax Mooseheads fire head coach after disappointing playoff run
Ducharme, 45, coached the Halifax Mooseheads for seven years and led the team to a Memorial Cup victory in 2013. Ducharme left the Mooseheads in 2016 to coach the Drummondville Voltigeurs, where he has remained since.
READ MORE: Halifax wins hosting rights for 2019 Memorial Cup hockey championship
Ducharme posted a 267-169-24 record over 476 games with the Mooseheads. In 2012-13, his team led the Canadian Hockey League with a record of 59-6-3-1, earning Ducharme the Ron Lapointe Award as Coach of the Year in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
Following the 2017-2018 season, Ducharme was awarded the Paul Dumont Trophy as the league’s Personality of the Year.
Ducharme has also been the head coach of Team Canada’s world junior team, leading them to a silver in 2017 and a gold this past year.
The Montreal Canadiens completed the regular season with a 29-40-13 record, finishing 14th in the Eastern Conference standings and missing a playoff spot.
The Halifax Mooseheads announced Wednesday they are parting ways with their head coach, Jim Midgley, after only one season on the job.
The search for a new head coach is underway.
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