MONTREAL, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- The Montreal Canadiens fired head coach Claude Julien Saturday and replaced him with General Manager Bob Gainey as interim coach.
The team also relieved assistant coach Rick Green of his duties and named former team captain Guy Carbonneau his replacement. Carbonneau was an assistant with Montreal from 2000-02.
Julien, a former NHL defenseman, guided the Canadiens to a 19-16-6 record this season after a 12-3-1 start. He was named the 26th head coach of the franchise in January 2003 and posted a regular-season record of 72-62-10-15.
Julien joined the Canadiens following three campaigns as head coach of the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League, where he had a 98-77-19-11 record.
In 2002-03, Julien was named the AHL Co-Coach of the Year.
