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Montreal Canadiens: Five Potential Head Coach Replacements For Claude Julien

By Ken MacMillan

MONTREAL, QC - JANUARY 09: Head coach of the Montreal Canadiens Claude Julien looks on from behind the bench against the Edmonton Oilers during the third period at the Bell Centre on January 9, 2020 in Montreal, Canada. The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-2. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - JANUARY 09: Head coach of the Montreal Canadiens Claude Julien looks on from behind the bench against the Edmonton Oilers during the third period at the Bell Centre on January 9, 2020 in Montreal, Canada. The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-2. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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ST CATHARINES, ON – NOVEMBER 24: Head Coach Andre Tourigny of the Ottawa 67’s shouts to the referee during the second period of an OHL game against the Niagara IceDogs at the Meridian Centre on November 24, 2017 in St Catharines, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
ST CATHARINES, ON – NOVEMBER 24: Head Coach Andre Tourigny of the Ottawa 67’s shouts to the referee during the second period of an OHL game against the Niagara IceDogs at the Meridian Centre on November 24, 2017 in St Catharines, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images) /

3. Andre Tourigny

So, Guy Carbonneau has the relevant experience and he also meets the language requirement. Laviolette and Boudreau may sound French but they don’t speak it enough to stand behind the Habs bench. Gallant has been allowed behind the bench as an assistant but likely will get overlooked as a head coach because he can’t speak French.

So, that leaves the top three candidates who meet the unique criteria it takes to be considered a head coach in Montreal. They may not all have been NHL head coaches before, but they have spent a lot of time behind benches and most importantly, can parler en francais.

Andre Tourigny is an interesting candidate. He has some experience behind an NHL bench as the assistant to Patrick Roy (he’s not on this list) and also as the assistant in Ottawa for a year when Dave Cameron was the head coach.

Aside from those three years, Tourigny has spent most of his time behind a Junior bench. He was the head coach of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies for ten years. Though he never won a title, he made it to the league semi-finals four times in those ten years. Tourigny was an assistant coach for the Canadian World Junior team three times in those ten years and won a pair of silver medals.

After his three year NHL tenure, Tourigny returned to Junior hockey as the head coach of the Halifax Mooseheads. The Mooseheads were in a rebuild at the time after three straight runs to the league semi-final. After one underwhelming season in Halifax, Tourigny moved to Ottawa to be head coach of the 67’s.

His first year with the 67’s was uneventful as they had 69 points in 68 regular season games and lost in the opening round of the playoffs. However, the 67’s have been a powerhouse since. They finished last season first overall in the OHL standings with 106 points. They lost in the final to the Nick Suzuki led Guelph Storm.

The 67’s are back once again this year and have 99 points already with seven games left to play. They are ranked second overall in all of Canada and look poised to go even further than they did last season.

It just goes to show how quickly Tourigny can turn things around for a Junior team. Imagine what he could do with an NHL team like the Canadiens that has one of the best crop of prospects about to turn pro.

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