Julien was 667-445-152 with 10 ties in 1,274 games as an NHL coach, most recently with the Montreal Canadiens from 2017 until he was fired on Feb. 24, 2021. He coached the Boston Bruins to the Stanley Cup Playoffs seven straight seasons (2007-14), won the Stanley Cup in 2011 and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in 2013. He won the Jack Adams Award voted NHL coach of the year in 2008-09.
"I think like a lot of other tournaments whether it's World Juniors or other things, it's one of those things where you don't really have a lot of time to gel," Julilen said Friday. "So you've got to do the right things in your preparation. I think the biggest thing is the preparation for each game. When you're at the Olympics it doesn't really matter who you're playing. You really have to focus on yourself as a team."
Julien won a gold medal as an assistant for Canada in the 2014 Sochi Olympics and coached Canada to a first-place finish at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
"What an unbelievable experience (in 2014)," Julilen said. "So for me to be able to go back and to hopefully lead Canada to a gold medal is something that I couldn't turn down. "
Julien replaces Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper, who was named in August before the NHL announced in December it would not be participating in these Olympics.
Doan, a former NHL forward, was named chief executive officer of the Arizona Coyotes on Jan. 11, 2021 after scoring 972 points (402 goals, 570 assists) in 1,540 games with the Coyotes and Winnipeg Jets from 1995-2017. He played for Canada at the 2006 Turin Olympics, where they finished seventh, and for five IIHF World Championships, finishing first in 2003 and 2007 and second in 2005, 2008 and 2009.
"This is such a huge honor," Doan said. "To be involved in any way is always something special. Having played in an Olympics and not gotten a gold medal, that is something I'd like to rectify. I'd love to get back there and do that. Being able to be put into this position is incredible."
Doan replaces St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong.
"Canada, the gold medal is our goal every single year, it goes without saying," Doan said. "But the Olympics itself is just such an incredible event. It's bigger than sport. It's the idea of the world coming together and I think it's pretty special to be a part of that."
Jeremy Colliton, Nolan Baumgartner and Tyler Dietrich were named assistants to replace Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy, Vegas Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer and New York Islanders coach Barry Trotz.
Colliton, at 33 years old, became the youngest coach in the NHL when he replaced Joel Quenneville as Chicago Blackhawks coach on Nov. 6, 2018. He was 87-92-26 in four seasons, coaching the Blackhawks to the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, before he was fired Nov. 6.
Baumgartner was an assistant for the Vancouver Canucks from 2017 until he was fired, with coach Travis Green, on Dec. 5. Dietrich has been a member of the Canada hockey operations department since 2016.
Also part of the Canada management group are assistant general manager Scott Salmond and director of player personnel Blair Mackasey.
Canada's first game at the Olympics will be against Germany on Feb. 10. It will also play the United States and China in the preliminary round.
NHL.com staff writer Mike Zeisberger contributed to this report
