The name of Dominique Ducharme has been on everyone’s lips since the publication of the book Pierre Gervais: at the heart of the locker room. The former equipment manager of the Montreal Canadiens skinned his former colleague and the latter vigorously denies the things he is accused of.
In an interview on BPM Sports on Monday afternoon, the head coach who helped the Habs reach the Stanley Cup final in 2021 said he was disappointed with the comments reported in the book. “For my part, I have fond memories of the people I worked with. »
During the only interview he will offer on this subject, Ducharme evoked a memory that is dear to him to explain how surprised he was by Gervais’ negative comments about him.
At the end of the season, after the Canadiens lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the final, he asked Gervais for a game jersey to keep as a souvenir. A tradition he has maintained for a long time to keep a piece of all the places he has been to during his career. “He gave me a wink and said, ‘Dom, I’ll take care of this,'” he reported.
He eventually presented her with an autographed piece of Carey Price gear. Ducharme added that when he handed him the jersey, Gervais told him: “The course of the playoffs we have just had is the most beautiful since 1993. […] The work you did with them, you did a damn good job. »
This is why, given the kind words Gervais had for him, Ducharme was “surprised, disappointed and angry. »
A holiday problem
In the book, Gervais recounts that Ducharme’s adventure got off to a bad start, since he canceled, upon his arrival, what was supposed to be a day off, approved by the players’ association, to organize training on the road.
However, the head coach at the time says that he had made this decision in collaboration with captain Shea Weber and that it was even the players who had been the initiators of this change of plan.
“He told me that at the hotel there was nothing to do and [m’a demandé] if we could go to the arena the next day to practice. If they want to practice, I’m not against that, we hardly ever practiced, so we practiced when we had a chance. »
He goes on to add that “The players were asked, because they had time off, he got back to me and he said he even asked the guys what time they wanted to practice. »
According to Ducharme, “he was on the same page” as the two great locker room leaders Shea Weber and Corey Perry.
No mess
The CH equipment manager for the past 35 years also criticizes Dominique Ducharme for being a disorganized coach. He says the players learned at the last minute whether he was playing or not, in addition to poorly predicting where and when the players were to train.
Ducharme defends himself by arguing that during the pandemic, everything was complex and that some rapid test results were confirmed at the last minute, which complicated the management of the workforce.
“We had to change our line-up three or four times before going on the ice. […] For example, players were told “normally, you don’t play tonight. However, we have XYZ who are in such a situation. If that changes, I may send you a quick text to tell you that we need you, or conversely that you are not playing”. »
Ducharme didn’t like the way he was portrayed in the book: “It makes me laugh. »
He says that while he was the head coach of the Canadiens, his main objective was to “make the players’ job easy and give them the best possible conditions. »