Dominique Ducharme ready for Mooseheads

In many ways, Dominique Ducharme has been preparing for his job as head coach of the Halifax Mooseheads his whole adult life.

The 38-year-old from Joliette, Que., first started the process in the early 1990’s when he studied physical education at the University of Vermont. Obviously, he was there mainly to play for the NCAA university’s hockey team but he also learned many of the basics about working with kids during his post-secondary studies.
“A big part of coaching is to be a teacher,” Ducharme said. “I think that is one of my strengths. I have always worked at that part of coaching and I think it’s important to communicate with the kids as much as possible. You always have to work with them one-on-one and as a group.”

After four years as a top scorer at the University of Vermont and seven more in a variety of minor professional leagues, Ducharme committed himself to a career in coaching. He first joined the Universite de Trois Rivieres Patriotes as an assistant in 2002 and helped them win a national CIS title in his first year with the team. He stayed with the Patriotes for a second year before accepting his first head coaching position with the Joliette Action of the Quebec Junior AAA Hockey League.
He spent four years with the Action, compiling an impressive 149-43-13 record and winning three regular season titles and two playoff championships. He also led the Action to a Fred Page Cup win in 2006 and was named the league’s coach of the year in 2008. He was a finalist for the league’s coaching award in his three other seasons behind the Joliette bench.

 The incredible success in Joliette was enough to catch the eye of Montreal Juniors head coach and general manager Pascal Vincent, who hired Ducharme as an assistant in 2008. Ducharme was Vincent’s right-hand man for three seasons before attracting the attention of several QMJHL teams looking for a new head coach. He came close to landing the Drummondville Voltigeurs’ job in 2009 and was on the radar of at least three teams this spring.

“This was the second time I went through this kind of process,” Ducharme said. “I learned a lot with my experience with Drummondville two years ago and I knew how I wanted to approach everything this time.

“A week before I got  everything prepared so when I sat down it wasn’t like I was nervous about the interview because I was ready for every question.
“I knew I was ready and I know I’m ready for it. I was hoping to get a chance. An opportunity with a great organization like this is what I was looking for. I’m really happy about it.”

Mooseheads majority owner Bobby Smith and general manager Cam Russell were both thoroughly impressed with Ducharme’s preparation when they sat down with him for his interview on April 30. Smith said Ducharme came armed with a professionally printed book about his coaching philosophies and strategies, and the three men ended up talking hockey for four hours.

“He really impressed us with his passion and professionalism,” Smith said. “After Dominique left the room, Cam and I just looked at each other and said ‘Wow, this guy is really prepared for this job.’ We took a few more days to think about it because we had a couple other very strong candidates but we kept coming back to Dominique and the impression he made on us.

“We also had all these people calling us or coming to us unsolicited to tell us how much they thought of his ability. And we know there were two or three other teams looking very closely at him to be their next coach. When we put it all together, we felt very good about offering him the job.”

Ducharme said it was a tense couple of days waiting to hear back from the Mooseheads but was thrilled when he eventually got the call from Smith offering him the position.
“I was waiting for my daughter at school and Bobby called me,” said Ducharme, whose wife Nathalie Ouellet and two children Xavier and Alexanne will move with him to Halifax this summer. “I was sitting in my car and I was really happy when he told me I was his new coach. This has been a goal of mine for a long time.”
Now that he’s officially the team’s coach, Ducharme can’t wait to get started.

“I hope the summer passes fast,” he kidded. “I’m excited about our team. It’s a young team that’s been building from inside with draft picks. They have grown together and now they’re ready to take the next step.”

Smith and Russell are just as excited. Their Mooseheads lost a first-round series to Ducharme and the Juniors in the first round of the QMJHL playoffs this year and admired their opponent’s structure and organization. They acknowledged Ducharme was only the assistant during that four-game sweep but know he played a key role in Montreal’s success.
“When you’re an assistant coach, it’s not necessarily your system,” Russell said. “But Montreal was a strong forechecking team. They were very aggressive, they finished their checks and they worked hard. You may not see the same style of game here. Maybe you won’t see as much trapping because he was a skilled player when he played the game. But he’s had success at every level he’s coached at and we’re just excited to see what his systems are going to look like and what he’s going to get out of some of our young, skilled players.”