The Montreal Canadiens announced Monday that the club has hired Guy Boucher as head coach of the Hamilton Bulldogs, the Canadiens' main affiliate club in the American Hockey League.
Boucher has been involved in Quebec major junior hockey for the better part of the last decade, including the last three seasons as head coach of the QMJHL's Drummondville Voltigeurs.
In 2008-09, he led his team to the QMJHL's regular season and playoff championships, as well as a berth in the Memorial Cup. He also took the Voltigeurs to their best season in franchise history (54 wins, 112 points). Following the 2008-09 season, he was awarded the Paul Dumont Trophy as the QMJHL's Personality of the Year.
Prior to his tenure in Drummondville, Boucher was an assistant coach with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (1997-2000) and the Rimouski Oceanic (2003-2006) winner of the 2005 QMJHL regular season title (Jean Rougeau award) and the President Cup as playoff champions, earning them a spot in the Memorial Cup tournament. He left the QMJHL for two seasons, 2000 to 2002, to be at the helm of the Lac Saint-Louis Lions in the Midget AAA Development League.
Guy Boucher also enjoyed success at the international level working as an assistant coach with Canada's National Men's Under-18 Team program on three separate occasions, most recently at the 2008 IIHF World Under-18 Championship where the squad won gold. He was also behind the bench at the 2007 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka summer tournament and the 2006 IIHF World Under-18 Championship. More recently, at the 2009 IIHF World Under-20 Championship, he was also an assistant with the Canadian Team that won a fifth consecutive gold medal at the World Junior Championships in Ottawa, Ontario.