Jeff Gorton says that Dominique Ducharme’s job is safe for the rest of the season

Jeff Gorton told media in Montreal that Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme will remain in his position for the remainder of the 2021-22 season.

Earlier this week, Habs co-owner Geoff Molson held a press conference to address the firing of Marc Bergevin and the organization’s decision to move forward with a tandem front office that was led by Gorton. When asked about Ducharme, Molson said that he doesn’t make decisions in regards to the coaches.

So, when Gorton was introduced to media in Montreal, the question about Ducharme naturally came up.

Asked by @GagnonFrancois in the final question of the news conference if Dominique Ducharme was safe as coach for the rest of the season, Jeff Gorton said, “Yes.''

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) December 3, 2021

Ducharme was named interim head coach last season when the Habs fired Claude Julien. The Habs would wind up going on a surprising run to the Stanley Cup Final and Ducharme’s interim tag was removed.

The team has fallen completely flat since at run, as the Habs own a 6-17-2 record after their most recent loss at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night. All told, Ducharme has a 21-33-9 record as Montreal’s head coach in the regular season.

Gorton introduced himself to Montreal in French and said that he’s currently working on learning the language.

À sa première conférence de presse avec le Canadien de Montréal, Jeff Gorton tenait à faire une allocution en français. pic.twitter.com/cnuFQmze2I

— Radio-Canada Sports (@RC_Sports) December 3, 2021

He later added that the team will hire a general manager to work in tandem with him after Christmas. Gorton also mentioned that the front office will be transparent about a rebuild if that’s the path they take and that he wants to improve the organization’s analytics department.