Michel Therrien | |
---|---|
Therrien with the Penguins
|
|
Born |
Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
November 4, 1963
Other names | Bulldog |
Occupation | Former NHL scout Ice hockey coach |
Predecessor |
Alain Vigneault (2000–01) Randy Cunneyworth (2011–12) |
Successor | Claude Julien |
Michel Therrien (born November 4, 1963) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey coach in the National Hockey League (NHL). Therrien coached the Montreal Canadiens, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Canadiens again.
Prior to his coaching career, Therrien played professionally for three years as a defenceman in the American Hockey League (AHL), compiling a total of 86 points in 206 games and winning the Calder Cup in 1985 with the Sherbrooke Canadiens, on the same team as eventual Hockey Hall of Famer Patrick Roy. When his playing career ended, Therrien worked for a time as a lineman for Bell Canada, with a sideline as a bodyguard for Quebec singing star Roch Voisine, with whom he had once played hockey, while working his way into a coaching career.
Before coaching in the professional leagues, Therrien was a coach in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), first as an assistant with the Laval Titan and later as head coach for the Granby Prédateurs, with whom the club won the Memorial Cup in 1996, ending a 25-year championship drought in the tournament for a team from Quebec. He is a single parent of two children, Elizabeth and Charles.
In 2000, after stumbling out to a 5–13–2 record, the Montreal Canadiens fired Head Coach Alain Vigneault and hired rookie Michel Therrien. The Canadiens went 23–27–6–6 under Therrien and missed the 2001 Stanley Cup playoffs.