Hockey's biggest franchise, the Montreal Canadiens announced on Tuesday morning, that they have hired 48-year-old Michel Therrien as the team's new coach.
The new coach was previously given the position of interim coach midway through the season, following the dismissal of Jacques Martin. Therrien has now replaced former head coach, Randy Cunneyworth, who was scrutinized by fans and the media for his lack of fluency in French.
Fluent in both French and English, Therrien was able to avoid this issue in his first run with the Montreal Canadiens.
Therrien served as the Canadiens' coach for parts of hockey seasons from 2000-2003. He replaced Montreal Canadiens coach Alain Vigneault in 2002, and by 2003 was fired.
He moved on to coach the Penguins in Pittsburgh, from 2005-06 through 2008-09 and led them to the playoffs the following year. In 2006-07 he was awarded a Jack Adams Award nomination, an award given annually to a coach who is believed to have contributed greatly to their team's success.
The next year, Therrien led the Penguins to the Stanley Cup finals, where they lost after six games.
Therrien was replaced during the 2008-09 season by Dan Bylsma who also led the team to the Stanley Cup finals, where they won later that season.
Therrien has officially left his job as a television analyst for RDS, a Canadian French language sports focused channel, to fulfill his new position as coach. Given a second chance as the Canadiens' team head coach, Therrien is back in Montreal where he started his NHL coaching career years ago in the 2000-01 season.
