Montreal Canadiens fire Michel Therrien, hire Claude Julien

Former Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien was out of work for a whole week.

Fired by the Bruins on February 7, Julien was hired by Montreal (31-19-8) on Tuesday after the Canadiens fired Michel Therrien.

The move immediately sent shock waves throughout the NHL. The Canadiens are in first place in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference with 31-19-8 record, but they have slumped by going 1-5-1 in February.

"I would like to sincerely thank Michel for his relentless work with the Montreal Canadiens over his eight seasons behind the bench, including the last five seasons when we worked together," Habs general manager Marc Bergevin said in a news release.

This will be Julien's second stint with the Canadiens having coached the Habs from 2002-06. Montreal won the Stanley Cup in 2004, upsetting the Bruins in seven games.

Julien, 56, had been the NHL's longest-tenured coach until the Bruins fired him last week. He is Boston's all-time leader in coaching victories with 419. He guided the team to a Stanley Cup championship in 2011, the Bruins' first title in 39 years.

"Claude Julien is an experienced and well respected coach with a good knowledge of the Montreal market," Bergevin said. "Claude has been very successful as an NHL coach and he won the Stanley Cup. Today, we hired the best available coach, and one of the league's best."