Michel Therrien (born November 4, 1963) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach. (NHL). Therrien was the head coach of the Montreal Canadiens (twice), and the Pittsburgh Penguins, and was an assistant coach for the Philadelphia Flyers.
Prior to his coaching career, Therrien played professionally for three years as a defenceman in the American Hockey League (AHL), compiling a total of 86 points in 206 games and winning the Calder Cup in 1985 with the Sherbrooke Canadiens, on the same team as eventual Hockey Hall of Famer Patrick Roy. When his playing career ended, Therrien worked for a time as a lineman for Bell Canada, with a sideline as a bodyguard for Quebec singing star Roch Voisine, with whom he had once played hockey, while working his way into a coaching career.
Before coaching in the professional leagues, Therrien was a coach in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), first as an assistant with the Laval Titan and later as head coach for the Granby Prédateurs, with whom the club won the Memorial Cup in 1996, ending a 25-year championship drought in the tournament for a team from Quebec. He is a single parent of two children, Elizabeth and Charles.
The next season, the Penguins shot out to one of the best starts in franchise history, only to slow down considerably heading into December. The slide continued, and on February 15, 2009, a day after a 6–2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs and with the Penguins struggling to stay in the playoff race, Therrien was relieved of his duties as head coach of the Penguins. Therrien finished two games behind Red Kelly for the second-longest tenure as Penguins' head coach. Dan Bylsma took over as Therrien's replacement. After his termination, he continued to reside in Pittsburgh and followed the team as they advanced to the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals and won the Stanley Cup in Game 7 in Detroit.
Return to Montreal
On June 5, 2012, Montreal Canadiens executive vice president and general manager Marc Bergevin announced the appointment of Michel Therrien as the club’s new head coach. His first season was a successful one, leading the Habs to first in the Northeast Division after the team had finished last in the previous season. However, the team ended up losing in the first round to the Ottawa Senators in five games. In his second season, 2013–14, he led the Habs to the Eastern Conference Finals, though the team lost to the New York Rangers in six games. At the end of the season, general manager Marc Bergevin rewarded Therrien with a new contract, a four-year extension. With the contract, he became the highest-paid coach in the history of the Canadiens. In 2015–16, after starting the season with a 19–4–3 win–loss record, the Canadiens collapsed following an injury to goaltender Carey Price, ending the season with a .500 record and failing to make the playoffs. On November 4, 2016, his 53rd birthday, the Canadiens got blown out 10-0 by the Columbus Blue Jackets. On January 7, 2017, Therrien recorded his 400th win as a coach in a 5–3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. However, on February 14, 2017, he was once again fired by the Canadiens and replaced as head coach by Claude Julien for the second time. At the time of his firing, the Canadiens were ranked first in the Atlantic Division with a 31–19–8 record. Their season started with a strong 13-1-1 start, but followed with a disappointing run of 18-18-7 which led to his firing.
Philadelphia Flyers
On May 5, 2019, Michel Therrien returned to the NHL as an assistant coach to Alain Vigneault of the Philadelphia Flyers. On December 6, 2021, Therrien was relieved of his duties.
Canada national team
In December 2025, Therrien coached Canada at the 2025 Spengler Cup. This appearance marked a return behind the bench for Therrien as well as his international coaching debut.
Coaching record
<small>Note: Brackets around points (Pts) indicate a partial season of coaching.</small>
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"|Team !! rowspan="2"|Year !! colspan="7"|Regular season !! colspan="4"|Postseason
|-
! G !! W !! L !! T !! OTL !! Pts !!Finish !! W !! L !! Win % !! Result
|-
!MTL||2000–01
|62||23||27||6||6||(58)||5th in Northeast|| — || — || — ||Missed playoffs
|- style="background:#fdd;"
!MTL||2001–02
|82||36||31||12||3||87||4th in Northeast|| 6 || 6 || ||Lost in Conference semifinals (CAR)
|-
!MTL||2002–03
|46||18||19||5||4||(45)||(fired)||—||—||—||—
|-
!PIT||2005–06
|51||14||29||—||8||(36)||5th in Atlantic||— || — || — ||Missed playoffs
|- style="background:#fdd;"
!PIT||2006–07
|82||47||24||—||11||105||2nd in Atlantic||1 || 4 ||||Lost in Conference quarterfinals (OTT)
|- style="background:#fdd;"
!PIT||2007–08
|82||47||27||—||8||102||1st in Atlantic||14 || 6 || ||Lost in Stanley Cup Final (DET)
|-
!PIT||2008–09
|57||27||25||—||5||(59)||(fired)||—|| — || — ||—
|-
! colspan="2"|PIT total!!272||135|| 105 |||| 32|| ||||15||10!!!!2 playoff appearances
|- style="background:#fdd;"
!MTL||2012–13
|48||29||14||—||5||63||1st in Northeast||1 || 4|| ||Lost in Conference quarterfinals (OTT)
|- style="background:#fdd;"
!MTL||2013–14
|82||46||28||—||8||100||3rd in Atlantic||10||7 || ||Lost in Conference finals (NYR)
|- style="background:#fdd;"
!MTL||2014–15
|82||50||22||—||10||110||1st in Atlantic|| 6 || 6|| ||Lost in second round (TBL)
|-
!MTL||2015–16
|82||38||38||—||6||82||Missed playoffs|6th in Atlantic||— || — || — ||Missed playoffs
|-
!MTL||2016–17
|58||31||19||—||8||(70)||(fired)||— || — || — || —
|-
! colspan="2"|MTL total!!542||271|| 198 ||23|| 50!! !! !!23!!23!!!!4 playoff appearances
|-
!colspan="2"|Total||814||406||303||23||82|| || || 38 ||33 ||!!6 playoff appearances
|}