Guy Carbonneau Fired as Montreal Canadiens Coach

Guy Carbonneau was fired as Montreal’s coach this week in a surprising move, since the Canadiens are in a playoff position and have only 16 games left in the regular season.

General Manager Bob Gainey, who handed the coaching duties over to Carbonneau three years ago, will be back behind the bench as acting coach when Montreal plays Edmonton. In 230 games with the Canadiens, Carbonneau was 124-83-23.

The Canadiens started Monday in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, but they were only two points above the postseason cutoff. Montreal went into a free fall in late January and February, losing 10 of 13. The Canadiens, 5-4-1 in their previous 10 games, won 3-1 at Dallas on Sunday in their last game with Carbonneau as coach.

“The last eight weeks of performance have been below average, and I believe a change in the direction at ice level is necessary,” Gainey said.