The Vegas Golden Knights are adding former Montreal Canadiens head coach Dominque Ducharme as an assistant on their coaching staff, the team announced Wednesday.
Ducharme, 50, coached the Canadiens to their first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 1993 during the COVID-19 shortened season in 2020-21, where they fell to the reigning champion Tampa Bay Lightning in five games.
The next season, however, the Canadiens took a step backwards as the team struggled to gain any momentum, with projected star winger Cole Caufield stumbling under Ducharme during his first full season in the NHL. Sitting in last place, the Canadiens fired Ducharme in February 2022, replacing him with Martin St. Louis.
The Canadiens hired Ducharme as an assistant coach in April 2018. Prior to that, he coached the Drummondville Voltigeurs and the Halifax Mooseheads in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
In 2013, Ducharme won the President's Cup and the Memorial Cup with the Mooseheads. He also won a silver medal in 2017 as head coach of Canada's world junior team.
"We are extremely pleased with the additions of Dominique and Joel to our coaching staff here in Vegas," said Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon in a statement.
"Dominique brings a wealth of coaching experience into our organization and has proven to be a successful leader at multiple levels. Joel has excelled in Henderson during the first three years of his promising career as a coach and we're excited for him to be taking his next step with us."
Ducharme joins the staff of Stanley Cup Champion and Jack Adams Award-winning Bruce Cassidy, along with Joel Ward, who spent last season with AHL Henderson.
-- With files from The Canadian Press
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