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No real surprise that Therrien was fired

Montreal Canadiens v Arizona Coyotes

GLENDALE, AZ - MARCH 07: Head coach Michel Therrien of the Montreal Canadiens watches from the bench during the NHL game against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on March 7, 2015 in Glendale, Arizona. The Canadiens defeated the Coyotes 2-0. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

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Sunday’s 4-0 loss was the last straw.

In a twist, it came at the hands of the Boston Bruins.

Two days later, with his players on their bye week, Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin announced that he’d fired Michel Therrien as head coach and hired Claude Julien.

Julien, of course, was fired last week by those very same Bruins.

The sudden availability of Julien obviously influenced Bergevin’s thinking. It is not easy to hire a head coach in Montreal, where proficiency in French is expected, in addition to everything else. Julien has already coached the Habs once before. In fact, he replaced Therrien back in 2003.

The Canadiens enjoyed limited success under Julien, reaching the second round of the playoffs in 2004 but going no further. He was fired in January of 2006, replaced by then-GM Bob Gainey.

A bit more than a decade later, with a Stanley Cup title under his belt, Julien returns to take over a Canadiens team that sits first in the Atlantic with a record 31-19-8. Though first place is good, with just one victory in February, it’s been hard not to recall last year’s collapse, which came under Therrien’s watch.

Granted, that collapse had a lot to do with Carey Price’s injury. But the trading of P.K. Subban for Shea Weber hinted at turmoil behind the scenes. Throughout it all, Bergevin stuck with Therrien, whose relationship with Subban had been constantly put under the microscope.

Lately, the talk in Montreal has surrounded 23-year-old Alex Galchenyuk. Is he a center? A winger? That’ll be up to Julien to decide now. Therrien was heavily criticized for not trusting Galchenyuk at the center position, which comes with added defensive responsibility. On that note, it will be interesting to see how Julien handles that situation, given he’s been criticized himself for not trusting young players enough.

As for Bergevin, he may not be finished making changes. The Canadiens could use another center, regardless of where Galchenyuk plays. They’ve been linked to Arizona’s Martin Hanzal, a pending unrestricted free agent. The trade deadline is only two weeks away.

Montreal’s next game is Saturday at home to Winnipeg.

“I would like to sincerely thank Michel for his relentless work with the Montreal Canadiens over his eight seasons behind the bench, including the last five seasons when we worked together,” Bergevin said today in a release. “The decision to remove Michel from his coaching duties was a difficult one because I have lots of respect for him.

“I came to the conclusion that our team needed a new energy, a new voice, a new direction. Claude Julien is an experienced and well respected coach with a good knowledge of the Montreal market. Claude has been very successful as an NHL coach and he won the Stanley Cup. Today we hired the best available coach, and one of the league’s best. I am convinced that he has the capabilities to get our team back on the winning track.”