The Canadiens promoted Dominique Ducharme to the interim head coach position and appointed former Manitoba Moose Alex Burrows to the coaching staff.
Ducharme has a connection to two members of the Jets.
First, he coached Nikolaj Ehlers for his two seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League from 2013-2015.
"For me, a guy coming from Europe and being away from my family for the first time, when they brought me in I wasn't sure what to expect," Ehlers said. "I talked a lot to Dom all the time about the game, the off-ice stuff, he's a guy you can always talk to. With all his on-ice experience, he knows a lot about hockey. I got to develop a lot under him and he was really good at it."
Second, Ducharme was Canada's head coach at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship, a roster that included Pierre-Luc Dubois.
"He's a great person and I think that's important to build relationships with the players," said Dubois, who felt added pressure as an 18-year-old that year. "Whether it's game one or the finals, especially when it's in Canada, you have a lot of pressure. So to have him there, I think it helped me a lot, to feel a lot better, maybe have more confidence."
Looking back to February of 2017, the Jets served as the first opponent Montreal faced when Julien was hired.
Winnipeg held Montreal to 20 shots that night and earned a 3-1 win. Former Jet, and current member of the Canadiens, Joel Armia scored in the game to tie it at 1-1 in the second period.
Drummondville, QC product Mathieu Perreault scored the eventual game-winner 1:16 into the third period.
Only time will tell if there will be a similar outcome on Thursday, but in the meantime, Maurice knows what to expect from a team with a new coach.
"I would just say, in general, you get a group that's really, really focused and really trying to prove to the new guy what they can do," Maurice said. "You don't love catching a team after they make a coaching change, for sure. There's no history anymore. Everybody who's had a tough start feels this is their chance to show it, and the guys who've been going good don't want it to end."
ICE CHIPS
Tucker Poolman didn't skate for the second consecutive day as he deals with an upper-body injury that has him listed as day-to-day.
"We'll see where Tucker's at tomorrow, and then we'll decide if we think it's going to be longer than one game whether he'd be available to go on the IR," Maurice said. "Those things will play into the decision."
