Dominique Ducharme’s stint as coach of the Montreal Canadiens was short-lived, but very eventful.
In less than a calendar year, the 50-year-old, who was brought on as interim coach in February 2021, helped the Canadiens make a playoff push that resulted in an epic run to the Stanley Cup Final.
He followed that by posting a mid-season record of 8–30–7 and losing his job behind the bench in February of 2022.
In a recent interview on The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro, the former Montreal bench boss, who was recently hired as an assistant coach by the Vegas Golden Knights, discussed the eventful chapter of his career.
“Going to the Final was great. It was a fantastic experience… But coming back the expectations were, well now, ‘they’re going to be challenging again, right?'” Ducharme said when asked about starting the 2021-2022 season. “Once it started going south a bit, with the injuries and many things, I would’ve for sure tried [to] find a way to release the pressure on the players and even on myself, and enjoy the game more.”
“I would have changed a few things, tried to do it differently.”
Ducharme also discussed the highly criticized decision to bench Cole Caufield at the beginning of the playoffs. According to Ducharme, benching the then-rookie was “just part of the process” since the playoffs are “a different beast.”
“We knew… that within one or two games, he would be back.”
He also addressed the scoring slump the player found himself in during the first half of the following year.
“Like everyone else, Cole had a short summer. None of our players came back in great shape,” the Notre-Dame-des-Prairies native explained. “Confidence for a goal scorer is a big thing. He had a rough start. I was sitting with him, trying to keep him positive.”
Around the time that Ducharme was relieved of his duties, Caufield had COVID-19, which Ducharme says gave him time to go home and train. When he returned, there was a new coach in the locker room in Martin St. Louis, whom many credit with bringing back the sniper’s scoring touch.
Ducharme, who is friends with the Hockey Hall of Famer, said he believes St. Louis has been good for the Canadiens.
“I think Marty, he’s doing a good job with those guys,” he said. “Marty’s my friend. I have nothing wrong to say about him.”
The next time Ducharme saw Caufield was at Guy Lafleur’s funeral service. He explained that there were no hard feelings between him and the 22-year-old, despite what reports were saying at the time.
“I went to see Cole, and I told him ‘Hey, I’m really happy the way you finished the year,'” Ducharme said. “I’m sure if you ask Cole, it’s going to be, pretty much, the same story.”
As for his future in the league, Ducharme hopes to be back in a head coach position in the future but says he is excited to join a team coming off a championship.
“When you take a step back, you don’t know how people are gonna react and what’s going to be the next opportunity,” he said. “I was not in a rush last summer. My plan was to really come back this year.”