HabsWorld.net -- 

It took quite a while but the Habs have finalized their coaching staff, hiring Luke Richardson as an Assistant Coach that will work with their defence.

The 49-year-old has a fair bit of NHL coaching experience under his belt, spending four years with Ottawa as well as last season with the Islanders before being let go as they are overhauling their staff from last season.  Richardson also spent four years as the head coach of Ottawa’s AHL affiliate in Binghamton as well as one year with Hockey Canada working on the staffs for the Deutschland and Spengler Cups.

Richardson certainly knows plenty about defence having played the position for over 1,400 NHL games with six different teams and has served as the defensive coach in his previous NHL coaching stops.

He will be tasked with improving a back end that struggled considerably last season and will be without its workhorse for at least the first two months of the season after it was announced last week that Shea Weber had undergone knee surgery.  Sophomores Victor Mete and Noah Juulsen figure to be in the mix while youngsters Mike Reilly, Xavier Ouellet, and Brett Lernout are going to be battling for roster spots as well so having some experience working with younger blueliners will certainly come in handy.

With the hiring, Montreal’s coaching staff is now complete.  Joining Richardson on Claude Julien’s staff are holdovers Kirk Muller and Stephane Waite while Dominique Ducharme was added earlier this offseason.