Michel Therrien was named head coach of the Montreal Canadiens on June 5, 2012, returning behind the bench of the team he had coached from 2000 to 2003. In six seasons, he has coached 402 games, earning 202 wins, and suffering 177 losses and 23 ties
Now 51, Michel Therrien has coached more than a thousand games at the pro level. Before joining the Canadiens, Therrien coached the Laval Titan and the Granby Prédateurs in the QMJHL, winning the Memorial Cup with Granby in 1996. The Montreal native joined the franchise in June 1997, taking over behind the bench of the Canadiens AHL affiliate team in Fredericton in 1997. In 1999-2000, he became the first head coach of the Quebec Citadels in the AHL, leading the team to the Atlantic Division Championship in its inaugural season. On November 20, 2000, Therrien became the 25th head coach in Canadiens history. In his 6-year tenure with the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, from 2003 to 2009, he started out as head coach of the club’s AHL affiliate team in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, with whom he reached the Calder Cup finals, before being promoted to the upper echelon, leading the Pittsburgh Penguins to new heights. He was a finalist for the NHL Coach of the Year title in 2006-07.