Canadiens Fire Ducharme

Mired in the worst season in franchise history, the Montreal Canadiens have cleaned house once again. 

The latest staff member to be sent packing is Dominique Ducharme, with DailyFaceOff's Frank Seravalli reporting that the Canadiens have fired the coach roughly halfway into the first year of the three-year extension they gave him over the summer. 

The decision to part ways with Ducharme at this point in the season, despite extending him just six months ago, is not entirely surprising. 

The Canadiens are fresh off an embarrassing 7-1 defeat at the hands of the struggling New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night, with players publicly describing just how moribund the situation has gotten in Montreal following the game. 

"I feel embarrassed, to be honest with you," Anderson told reporters. 

"It's not fun to be at the rink right now" 

With quotes like that being made public, one can only imagine just how dire things must be behind closed doors. Ducharme had to go. 

Aside from a miracle run to the Stanley Cup Final back in June, the Canadiens have not fared well under Ducharme since the 48-year-old took over for Claude Julien last season. Ducharme led the Habs to an underwhelming 15-16-5 record to close out the 2021 campaign, barely squeaking into the playoffs thanks to a fourth-place finish in the COVID-mandated North Division. This season has seen his squad hit an entirely new low, with the Canadiens sitting dead last in the NHL standings with a league-worst eight wins and -79 goal differential. 

Practically everything that could have gone wrong in Montreal this season has done exactly that. Not all of that is the coach's fault. But the Canadiens drastically over-performed during their magical run in last year's playoffs and have come crashing back down to earth far harder than even the team's most vicious critics could've predicted. 

And with a new front office in charge, the next logical move was to make a change behind the bench.