Claude Julien gave his first interview since his dismissal
On February 24, Claude Julien was shown the door by the Montreal Canadiens to appoint Dominique Ducharme at the helm of the team. Since then, it's been radio silence for the 61-year-old.
However, the Franco-Ontarian broke the silence this week when he gave an interview to Sylvain St-Laurent, a journalist assigned to cover the Senators and the Olympiques. However, Claude Julien did not want to talk about his dismissal with the Montreal Canadiens, but rather about his state of mind and his memories with the Gatineau Olympiques, which he coached during the 90s.
According to St-Laurent, Claude Julien is doing wonderfully, as he has visibly "dropped out" of hockey in recent months.
"Claude Julien is doing very well, he is in shape, he looks very zen. Everything that happens to him is good."
With the possible closing of the Robert-Guertin Center, home of the Olympiques, Julien was asked about his best memories of his years in Gatineau.
The Gatineau Olympiques won the Memorial Cup in 1997. Generally, when a junior team is successful, it takes 3 to 4 years before it returns to the top. However, Claude Julien's Olympiques made it to the President Cup final in 1999. How did he get his team back to the top?
According to Julien, it all had to do with a song that was playing on the radio at the time. It was called "Tubthumping" by the band Chumbawamba. The lyrics of this song inspired the former Habs head coach's hits.
"I get knocked down, I get back up, they'll never stop me!"
It's still funny that it was thanks to a melody that the successes of the Olympics of the past were determined.
Claude Julien is a great hockey man. Say what you will, you have to respect his career. He just wasn't the right man for the Habs, as we've seen. However, I'm glad he's doing well, because let's not forget, it wears you out to come coach the Habs.
