By the end of the 1980-81 season, Claude Ruel resigned from his head coach position to return to the more familiar surroundings of talent evaluation, and the search was on for his replacement. Rumoured names included Ruel’s assistant coach, Jacques Laperrière, freshly-retired Serge Savard, Jacques Demers, and, yes, even Don Cherry who coached Team Canada at the World Championships that summer that included Guy Lafleur and Larry Robinson. Earlier in the season, Cherry famously said, “I would have my own hand cut off to coach the Canadiens.” But whoever was selected as head coach, they would certainly need an assistant.
Montreal Canadiens coach Claude Julien said he feels “100 percent” after undergoing a heart procedure that forced him to leave the NHL bubble, and said he will be ready to coach next season.
After completing the 1979-80 season on his own, Claude Ruel made the request to Managing Director Irving Grundman for an assistant coach for the next season in order to remain behind the bench.
When Jesperi Kotkaniemi was an 18-year-old rookie trying to survive in the NHL, far away from home, playing a different game on a smaller ice surface, he had a ton of help making that transition.
In 2008, Luke Richardson played two games with the Ottawa Senators before trading in his stick and skates for a suit and whiteboard, as assistant coach on game night. He was a veteran defenceman in the NHL, tallying 1996 penalty minutes and a reputation for being an effective communicator- a skill the Sens were interested in employing.
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