Dominique Ducharme gets interim label dropped, becomes head coach of the Montreal Canadiens

Dominique Ducharme is no longer the interim head coach of the Montreal Canadiens. The 48-year-old was named the full-time head coach of the team on Tuesday.

He signed a three-year contract with the team that takes him to the 2023-24 season.

Ducharme was promoted to the top job on February 24 when the team dismissed Claude Julien. His regular season was a crazy situation with limited practice time due to having 25 games over 43 days after the team’s COVID-19 situation. He had a 15-16-7 record and there were questions to what his future would bring.

A strong playoff performance saw the team reach the Stanley Cup Final with a 13-9 record. He was replaced by Luke Richardson for six games where the team went 3-3. Ducharme became the third straight interim coach to lead his team to the Stanley Cup Final. Craig Berube and Rick Bowness also received the full-time job following the playoffs.

Ducharme was in his third season as assistant coach with the team.