Canadiens fire coach Claude Julien amid losing stretch
FILE - Montreal Canadiens head coach Claude Julien, center, looks on from the bench during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Boston, in this, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019, file photo. The struggling Montreal Canadiens fired head coach Claude Julien and associate coach Kirk Muller on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021, following a three-game skid. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson, File)MONTREAL, QUE – The struggling Montreal Canadiens fired head coach Claude Julien and associate coach Kirk Muller on Wednesday following a three-game skid. Assistant coach Dominique Ducharme was appointed interim coach, and Alex Burrows was added to the Canadiens’ coaching staff. Ducharme joined the Canadiens' coaching staff in April 2018 after 10 seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
Throwback 5-game series force players to 'embrace the grind'
In a unique situation like this, youre going from not playing to playing playoff-style hockey, so youve got to embrace the grind mentally, physically.This is a different kind of grind after four-plus months off the ice. Eddie Olczyk won and lost one best-of-five series early in his playing career with Chicago and remembers the nerves of being 18 and 19 years old in those moments. Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour understands that urgency despite being drafted two years after the NHL moved to all best-of-seven series. His Hurricanes face the Rangers, whose president, John Davidson, won the only two best-of-five series he played in with New York. In a short series, Quenneville said, anything can happen.___AP Hockey Writer John Wawrow contributed to this report.