Canadiens fire Mivlchel Therrien, hire Claude Julien,

MONTREAL -- The Montreal Canadiens fired coach Michel Therrien and replaced him with Claude Julien yesterday.

Julien was fired by the Boston Bruins on Feb. 7. He coached the Canadiens from 2003-06 and also replaced Therrien to begin his previous stint as Montreal coach.

Therrien was in the fifth season of his second tenure as coach of the Canadiens (31-19-8), who lead the Atlantic Division with 70 points but are 1-5-1 in their past seven games. Since starting the season 13-1-1, they are 18-18-7.

The Canadiens are in the middle of a five-day break. Their next game is against the Winnipeg Jets at home Saturday (2 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, TVA Sports, NHL.TV). Their first practice under Julien is scheduled for Friday.

Bruins Relieve Claude Julien Of Coaching Duties

BOSTON, MA - Boston Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney announced today, February 7, that the team has relieved Claude Julien of his coaching duties. Julien has led the team to a 26-23-6 record (58 points) through 55 games this season. Assistant Coach Bruce Cassidy will assume interim head coaching duties.

Julien was in his 10th season with the Bruins in 2016-17, having been named the 27th head coach in team history on June 21, 2007. He was the longest tenured active head coach in the NHL. Julien is Boston's all-time coaching wins leader with 419 career victories, compiling a 419-246-94 record and .614 winning percentage in 759 games with the club. The Bruins advanced to the playoffs in seven of his nine years behind the Boston bench, and he owns the club career coaching record with 57 postseason wins. He led the Bruins to a Stanley Cup Championship in 2011, a return to the Stanley Cup Final in 2013 and a Presidents' Trophy in 2014. Julien also won the Jack Adams Trophy as the league's top coach following the 2008-09 season.

Julien has coached at the international level, most recently winning the 2016 World Cup of Hockey as an assistant coach for Team Canada. Julien also earned a Gold medal as an assistant coach for Team Canada in the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi. He won a Bronze medal as head coach of Team Canada at the 2000 World Junior Championships and a Silver medal as an assistant coach for Team Canada in the 2006 World Junior Championships.

Prior to his coaching career, Julien had a 12-year professional playing career as a defenseman at the IHL, CHL, AHL and NHL levels. He played 14 career NHL games with one assist and 25 penalty minutes over two seasons with the Quebec Nordiques in 1984-85 and 1985-86.

Cassidy is in his first season as an assistant coach with Boston in 2016-17. He completed his fifth season as head coach of the Providence Bruins in 2015-16, having spent the three previous seasons (2008-11) with the club as an assistant. The 51-year-old native of Ottawa, Ontario compiled a 207-128-45 overall record in 380 games at the helm, including winning seasons in all five years and postseason berths in each of his final four seasons in Providence. In 2015-16, Cassidy helped lead the P-Bruins to a 41-22-13 record. Current Bruins players in the organization with NHL experience who have played under Cassidy during his tenure as Providence head coach include: Noel Acciari, Tommy Cross, Brian Ferlin, Torey Krug, Colin Miller, Kevan Miller, Joe Morrow, David Pastrnak, Tyler Randell, Ryan Spooner, Malcolm Subban and Frank Vatrano.

This will be Cassidy's second career stint as an NHL head coach, having previously served as head coach of the Washington Capitals from 2002-04, where he helped lead the Caps to a 39-29-8-6 record and a postseason berth in his first season with the team. Following his exit from Washington, he served as an assistant coach with the Chicago Blackhawks for the 2005-06 season.

Cassidy also enjoyed a successful playing career, seeing action in the OHL, AHL, IHL and NHL, as well as overseas in Italy and Germany. The left-handed defenseman was originally drafted in the first round (18 overall) of the 1983 NHL Entry Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks. Over the course of five seasons (1985-90) at the NHL level, Cassidy recorded four goals and 13 assists for 17 points with 10 penalty minutes in 36 games.

- Boston Bruins

Claude Julien to return to Bruins as head coach next season

"The Neutral Zone" Staff Report

Th Boston Bruins announced on Thursday that despite missing the playoffs for the past two seasons, Claude Julien will return as the team's head coach for the 2016-17 NHL season. 

"It’s pretty obvious we failed on numerous occasions with some big games," Julien said in a press conference on Thursday. "Our consistency wasn't there."

When Julien said that he and the Bruins failed on "numerous occasions," he mentioned the 2016 Bridgestone NHL WInter Classic, where the Bruins lost 6-1 outdoors to the Montreal Canadiens.

"I want to be here," Julien also said. "I want to bring this team back to where we had it."\

In the conference, Bruins GM Don Sweeny said that Doug Houda will not return to the team's coaching staff next season.