Twitter shows support for Canadiens coach Dominique Ducharme after positive COVID test

Jacob Camenker

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Twitter shows support for Canadiens coach Dominique Ducharme after positive COVID test image

The Canadiens are going to be short-handed for the critical Game 3 of their Stanley Cup semifinal series against the Golden Knights.

Interim coach Dominique Ducharme will be unable to get in on the action. He has tested positive for COVID, per the Athletic. All other members of the Canadiens have tested negative.

As a result of his positive test, Ducharme will be sidelined for at least 10 days. That will knock him out for the rest of the Montreal vs. Vegas series, at bare minimum. 

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Ducharme received his second dose of the vaccine on June 9, per Sportsnet's Eric Engels.

In the wake of his positive test, Montreal fans took to Twitter to support Ducharme and the Canadiens.

Ducharme replaced Claude Julien as Canadiens coach on Feb. 24 after Montreal lost back-to-back games against Ottawa and five of six games. After that, Ducharme went 15-16-7 for the Canadiens and led them to the postseason, where they have gone 9-4 in 13 games to reach the Stanley Cup semifinals.

In Ducharme's absence, assistant coaches Luke Richardson and Alex Burrows will likely lead the squad. Richardson has been with the Canadiens since 2018 while Burrows, a former forward known for his biting antics during the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, was hired as an assistant after Ducharme was promoted to interim coach earlier this year.

The Canadiens-Golden Knights series is tied 1-1 going into Game 3. Montreal was already an underdog in this series, so it will have to overcome this latest setback to keep its unexpected playoff run going.

Jacob Camenker

Jacob Camenker Photo

Jacob Camenker first joined The Sporting News as a fantasy football intern in 2018 after his graduation from UMass. He became a full-time employee with TSN in 2021 and now serves as a senior content producer with a particular focus on the NFL. Jacob worked at NBC Sports Boston as a content producer from 2019 to 2021. He is an avid fan of the NFL Draft and ranked 10th in FantasyPros’ Mock Draft Accuracy metric in both 2021 and 2022.