Stanley Cup-winning head coach Claude Julien joining Blues coaching staff as assistant

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - A Stanley Cup-winning head coach is bringing his experience to the St. Louis Blues bench.

On Thursday, the Blues announced Claude Julien, who won the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins in 2010-11 is joining head coach Drew Bannister's coaching staff as an assistant coach.

Alongside the hiring of Julien, the Blues also announced Steve Ott has been promoted to Associate Coach. Ott, along with assistant coach Mike Weber and goaltending coach David Alexander, were given contract extensions to the end of the 2025-26 season.

Julien had over two decades of coaching experience, which includes multiples stints in the NHL. During his time as an NHL Coach, he coached the Montreal Canadians in two separate stints, had a quick and short tenure with the New Jersey Devils and most notably spent a decade as head coach with the Bruins, who he guided to two Stanley Cup finals, and most notably winning the Stanley Cup in 2010-11, defeating the Vancouver Canucks in a tight seven games.

Julien also has experience coaching internationally, serving as an assistant coach during Team Canada Gold Medal victories in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia and in the 2016 World Cups. Julien also served as the head coach for Canada in Beijing at the 2022 Winter Olympics, but Canada would fail to make it to the medal podiums, losing in the quarterfinals to Sweden.

Julien last coached in the NHL with the Canadiens in 2021, being fired 18 games into the season and being replaced by Dominique Ducharme, who would guide the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup Finals, losing in five to the Tampa Bay Lightning.