After being relieved by the St. Louis Blues, long-time NHL coach Claude Julien will be joining the ZSC Lions in Switzerland.
Former St. Louis Blues assistant coach Claude Julien will join the ZSC Lions in the National League as their new head coach, the Swiss club announced today.
Julien spent the last four seasons with the Blues. The first two were spent as a scout before becoming an assistant coach for the next two seasons. Following the end of a disappointing season for the Blues, Julien, alongside fellow assistant coach Mike Weber, were informed that they would not be returning, as coach Jim Montgomery wanted to build his own staff in St. Louis.
Julien was a very successful NHL coach, winning the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins in 2010-11 and the Jack Adams Trophy in 2008-09, awarded to the best coach. Throughout his NHL tenure, Julien coached the Montreal Canadiens, the New Jersey Devils, and the Bruins, then returned to the Canadiens.
His international coaching career has seen him win gold with Team Canada at the Olympics and the World Cup of Hockey as an assistant coach, as well as a bronze medal as the head coach of Team Canada at the World Juniors.
He also won a silver medal at the World Championships and coached Team Canada at the 2022 Olympics when NHL players were unable to compete.
The next endeavor in Julien’s legendary coaching career will be to take over a European club. Julien worked briefly with HC Ambrì-Piotta as a senior advisor during the 2022-23 season.
Julien joins a Lions squad that features several former NHL players and has won two of the last three NL championships. The Lions roster features former NHLers like Dennis Malgin, Sven Andrighetto, Rudolfs Balcers, Derek Grant, Juho Lammikko, Dean Kukan, Yannick Weber, and Mikko Lehtonen.
Julien is more than likely already considered a Hall of Fame-worthy coach, but if he can continue to add to his resume by winning titles with a historic Swiss club like the ZSC Lions, he will only improve his case.
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