Ex-Bruins Coach Claude Julien To Join This Club As Assistant

Former Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien will make his return to the NHL for the first time since the 2020-21 season.

The St. Louis Blues on Thursday named Julien an assistant coach. The announcement was made along with a move to their hockey operations and contract extensions for two other assistants.

After Julien was relieved of his duties as Bruins head coach on Feb. 7, 2017, the 2011 Stanley Cup champion became head coach of the Canadiens the same season. The 64-year-old coached Montreal until the 2020-21 season until he was fired on Feb. 24, 2021.

The former Bruins head coach had been away from the NHL since then. He was an assistant coach for the Canadian national team at the 2014 Winter Olympics where it won the gold medal and he continued in the tole for the 2016 World Cup where it won the championship.

Julien returned to Boston when the franchise celebrated the 2011 Stanley Cup team and the “Return of a Champion” era of the Bruins for the centennial season. But the Black and Gold will go toe-to-toe against their former head coach during the 2024-25 season.

St. Louis was 43-33-6 last season and missed out on the Stanley Cup playoffs after finishing fifth in the Central Division.