Martin's tenure in Montreal had highs, lows

Here's a look at the Jacques Martin era in Montreal, which lasted two-plus eventful seasons:

June 1, 2009 – Montreal names Jacques Martin as the 26
th coach in franchise history. One year after earning the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, the Canadiens fired Guy Carbonneau before the end of the 2008-09 season and finished as the No. 8 seed before being swept by the Boston Bruins in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

April 10, 2010 – The Canadiens clinched a playoff spot in the final game of their season with a 4-3 overtime loss against Toronto. They ended up with the No. 8 seed after Philadelphia defeated the New York Rangers in a shootout to claim in the No. 7 seed.

April 28, 2010 – Jaroslav Halak made 37 saves to help the Canadiens complete one of the most improbable upsets in NHL postseason history with a 2-1 win against the top-seeded Washington Capitals in Game 7 of the opening round at Verizon Center. Not only did the Canadiens defeat the Presidents' Trophy winners, they rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to do so.

May 12, 2010 – Montreal continued its remarkable postseason run by stunning the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins, with a 5-2 victory in Game 7 of the second round. It would be the final hockey game at Mellon Arena.

May 24, 2010 – Philadelphia ended Montreal's improbable march by defeating the Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Final in five games.

July 20, 2010 – Montreal named Randy Cunneyworth head coach of the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League. Cunneyworth replaced Guy Boucher, who became the bench boss for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

April 9, 2011 – Montreal defeated Toronto for Martin's 600th career win. He became the ninth coach in League history to reach that milestone.

April 27, 2011 – Nathan Horton scored in overtime to give the Boston Bruins a 4-3 victory in Game 7 of the opening round of the playoffs. The sixth-seeded Canadiens won the first two games of the series at TD Garden, but Boston rallied to claim a hard-fought series win against its rivals.

July 22, 2011 – Cunneyworth and Randy Ladoucer were named assistant coaches to Martin by the Canadiens.

October 26, 2011 – Montreal fired Martin's longtime assistant coach Perry Pearn after a 1-5-2 start, the worst for the franchise in 70 years.

December 17, 2011 – Montreal fired Martin after a 4-4-4 stretch that left the Canadiens at 13-12-7 and in last place in the Northeast Division. Cunneyworth was named interim coach for the rest of the season.