Ducharme: 'It's almost like destiny'

BROSSARD - Dominique Ducharme officially became the 31st head coach in Canadiens history on Tuesday.

Shortly after the announcement, the 48-year-old Jolette, QC native spoke with reporters via Zoom from the Bell Sports Complex.
Here are a few highlights from his chat:
Ducharme on the structure of his coaching staff moving forward, including assistants Luke Richardson and Alex Burrows:
That's something that Berge needs to finalize with them, but I don't see any changes with Luke and Alex. I want them to be back with us. They did a really good job, so they should be back. It's just a matter of time for me. We want to add one guy to our staff. When Claude and Kirk left, Alex came up, so we kind of worked differently, being three guys instead of four. We want to go back to four guys with the 82-game schedule. The other situation is Sean Burke. He's going to be with us, but is he going to be with us daily, moving his family here, or is he going to keep working with the team from Arizona? From there, we might have to look at a goalie coach in that situation.

Ducharme on the emotion of signing his new deal:
You always think back to your past and your family. July 13th is an important date in our family. It's the date our parents got married. It's also five years ago to the day that my father was buried. It's almost like destiny that this is happening on this particular date. It could've happened on the 12th or the 14th, but it all transpired on the 13th. I'm thinking about my kids, my girlfriend, my friends, and all the people I worked alongside over the years, whether at UQTR, in Joliette, in Halifax, in Drummondville, and with Hockey Canada. They all had an impact on me.
Ducharme on the Canadiens' path to improvement:
We're a fairly new group with the number of new guys coming in. They learned to win together and play together. It takes time. If we take that experience, that playoff run, and we use it the right way, it's going to make us better. We can't take anything for granted. We need to keep working and start back where we finished. If we do that, we're going to be a better team. Like every year, Marc is looking at making the team better. We're confident that we're going to be ready when the season starts and we'll have a good year.

Ducharme on putting his stamp on the team at training camp:
We're not going to start from scratch. There are a lot of things we can build on. What we can also do, though, is add to our base in order to finish strong. What I liked most about our performance in the playoffs, especially when I was away with COVID, was watching the team doing the things that we put in place. No matter what we were up against, we stuck to the plan. Adding things is really going to help us finish the right way.
Ducharme on his calm and cool demeanor, which has served him well in his coaching duties:
It's a part of me. As a coach, I'm pretty confident about what we do. If we stick with that, at some point we'll be rewarded. You learn that through experience. Even though we've had some hard times, I'm still confident in the group and the way we're doing things. Even on the personal side, I've been to every level, and I've always believed that when you do good things, good things happen to you. I have that belief that if we do things right, if we work the right way, if we commit where we should commit, you'll be rewarded.

Ducharme on what his father would think of his new job title:
He'd be very proud. He was a great sports guy, a great competitor. I'm sure there's a party up there somewhere.
Ducharme on the situation involving Jonathan Drouin, who took an indefinite leave of absence in late April:
It's still early. We just finished playing. I'm happy to know that things are going well for him. That's something that Marc has to evaluate. We'll see what happens. At the same time, all I want is the best for Jo. The most important thing is that he's working his way through something difficult and progressing. I just want him to be happy and look forward to the future.