Claude Julien (born April
23, 1960) is Canadian
professional
ice hockey head
coach of the Boston Bruins of the
National Hockey League
(NHL). He previously served as the head coach for the
Montreal Canadiens and the
New Jersey Devils. In the
American Hockey League (AHL), he
coached the
Hamilton
Bulldogs.
Playing career
Julien was a
NHL defenceman for the
Quebec Nordiques in the 1984 and 1986
seasons.
Julien had previously played in the
Ontario Hockey League for the
Oshawa Generals and
Windsor Spitfires. In the
Central Hockey League he played for
the
Salt Lake Golden Eagles.
In the
IHL,
Julien played for the
Milwaukee
Admirals. In the
AHL, he
played for the
Fredericton
Express,
Baltimore
Skipjacks,
Halifax Citadels and
Moncton Hawks.
Coaching career
Julien began his professional coaching in the
QMJHL for the
Hull
Olympiques, with whom he won the
Memorial Cup in 1997. From 2000–2003 he served
as head coach for the
AHL
Hamilton Bulldogs.
In 2000, Julien won a bronze medal as the
head coach of Canada's national junior ice hockey
team. He also served as an assistant coach to
Marc Habscheid at the
2006 Men's World Ice
Hockey Championships.
On January 17, 2003, Julien became head coach of the
Montreal Canadiens. In 2004, his first
full season as an NHL head coach, he led Montreal to a 93 point
performance (41-30-7-4 record) and the second round of the
playoffs. He was fired and replaced by GM
Bob
Gainey on January 14, 2006. Julien accumulated a
win-loss-tie-OT loss record of 72-62-11-14 during his three seasons
.
Julien was then announced as the head coach of the Devils on June
13, 2006. He was the 15th head coach in Devils history. On October
6, 2006, Julien won his first game as Devils head coach, a 4-0 win
at the defending Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes. On
November 4, 2006, Julien won his first return to Montreal as the
Devils defeated the Canadiens 2-1. On April 2, 2007, the New Jersey
Devils abruptly terminated Julien, despite his leading the Devils
to a 107-point season (49-24-9 record) and the Atlantic Division
championship with the second-best record in the Eastern
Conference.
Devils general manager
Lou Lamoriello
replaced Julien, the second straight season in which Lamoriello
left the front office to coach the Devils at the end of the season.
Lamoriello cited the team's lack of readiness to challenge for the
Stanley Cup as his reasoning for firing Julien.
On June 19, 2007, it was reported by various sports websites that
Julien had been named as the 28th head coach of the
Boston Bruins. Three days later, this report
was confirmed. In his first season as Boston coach, he led the team
back to the playoffs. His team struggled with consistency over the
course of the season but this was in large part due to the many
injuries that plagued the Bruins throughout the 2007–08 season.
Most notably, forward
Patrice
Bergeron and goaltender
Manny Fernandez missed almost
the entire season. The
Boston Bruins
were defeated in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals by the
Montreal Canadiens in seven
games. Despite the loss, Claude Julien's coaching helped the team
battle throughout it all in what was expected to be an easy playoff
series for the
Montreal
Canadiens.
On February 17, 2009, Julien coached his 200th winning NHL game, a
5-1 Bruins road game defeat of the
Carolina Hurricanes. On May 1, 2009, the
NHL announced Julien as a finalist for the
Jack Adams Award, an award given annually
to the NHL coach most valuable to his team's success. On June 18,
2009, Julien was awarded the
Jack Adams
Award as the best coach in the NHL.
Julien and
his wife Karen reside in Lexington, Massachusetts
with daughter Katryna Chanel and their golden retriever.
Coaching record
References
See also
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