Dominique Ducharme will return to the NHL as assistant coach of the Vegas Golden Knights. He will support Bruce Cassidy in this role.
The defending NHL champion team made the announcement Wednesday night. She also shared that former player Joel Ward has been promoted to Cassidy’s assistant. The former San Jose Sharks and Washington Capitals has been an assistant coach for the Golden Knights academy since 2020.
“We are very excited to have Dominique and Joel join our coaching staff here in Vegas,” Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon said in a statement.
“Dominique brings a wealth of coaching experience to our organization and has proven himself to be an effective leader on many levels,” he noted. Joel excelled at Henderson in the first three years of his promising coaching career and we are delighted to have him take the next step with us. »
Ducharme, a former head coach of the Montreal Canadiens, was fired in February 2022 and has not had a position in the Bettman circuit since. He had also led the Habs to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021 against the Tampa Bay Lightning before folding the backbone in five games.
The 50-year-old Joliettain was first assistant coach of the Canadiens since the 2018-19 season. He also led the Halifax Mooseheads (2011-16) and the Drummondville Voltigeurs (2016-18) in the QMJHL. He won the Memorial Cup with Halifax in 2013.
The Quebec instructor also led the Canadian team to the World Junior Championship in 2017 and 2018, winning the silver and gold medals respectively.
The Golden Knights clarified that Ducharme and Ward should not be made available to the media to comment on their new roles with the club.