Steph Julien

The Detroit Red Wings announced the hiring of Steph Julien as an assistant coach of the Griffins on June 26, 2023.

In his first season with the Griffins in 2023-24, he helped guide the team to its best finish since 2016-17, ending the season in second place in the Central Division with a 37-23-8-4 record and 86 points. Julien then helped the Griffins reach the Central Division Finals for the first time since 2017. 

During the 2022-23 season, Julien was named the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) Coach of the Year as well as the QMJHL General Manager of the Year when he helped lead the Sherbrooke Phoenix to a Central Division title and a trip to the QMJHL semifinals with a 50-13-3-2 (0.772) regular-season record. Julien also guided Canada’s U18 squad to a gold medal at the 2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup as head coach and earned another gold medal as an assistant for Team Canada at the 2023 World Junior Championship.

In 2022, Julien coached Canada’s Black U17 squad to a third-place finish at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. He began his national coaching career in 2017 when he served as an assistant coach for Team Canada at the 2017 World Junior Championship, earning a silver medal.

Before joining the Griffins, Julien had spent his entire coaching career with Sherbrooke, serving as an assistant coach from 2012-16 before being named head coach midway through the 2015-16 campaign. The Shawinigan, Quebec, native garnered his first QMJHL Coach of the Year recognition during the 2019-20 campaign when Sherbrooke won the QMJHL regular-season title with a 51-8-3-1 mark (0.841). As head boss, Julien notched a 262-161-24-17 record (0.609) with three division titles and one league championship.

In 2022-23, Tyson Hinds was named the QMJHL Top Defensemen while Ethan Gauthier was named the QMJHL Top Pro Prospect under the guidance of Julien. He also propelled Joshua Roy to the top scorer in the QMJHL during the 2021-22 campaign with 119 points (51-68—119) in 66 games. In total, Julien has served as head coach for three QMJHL First All-Star Team members, four second-team honorees and three honorable mentions.

Julien also served as general manager for Sherbrooke for the past three campaigns (2020-23), accumulating a 104-47-6-6 ledger (0.675). In 2022-23, when he was named the QMJHL General Manager of the Year, Julien acquired goaltender Olivier Adam, forwards Jakub Brabenec and Jacob Melanson, and defenseman Marc-Andre Gaudet. Adam went on to show a 20-3-1 record along with a 2.09 GAA, while the skaters combined for 125 points (41-84—125) in 93 games.

The QMJHL’s Defenseman of the Year in 1994-95 with the Sherbrooke Faucons, Julien was twice named a QMJHL First Team All-Star (1992-93 and 1994-95) and was selected a Second Team All-Star in 1993-94. The 49-year-old went on to collect 667 points (205-462—667) in 775 professional games from 1995-2012, playing the majority of his career overseas in Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. He competed in one pro season in the United States with the Pensacola Ice Pilots of the ECHL, collecting 38 points (13-25—38) and 91 penalty minutes in 69 outings in 1996-97. He spent the most time in the DEL, the top hockey league in Germany, playing nine seasons and serving as captain for EHC München in the final two campaigns of his pro career from 2010-12.

Julien and his wife, Isabelle, have two daughters. Aurelie, 25, works as a nurse while Gabrielle, 23, serves as a teacher. Julien’s wife, Isabelle, works as a philanthropy development director at Hospital CHUS back home in Sherbrooke, Quebec.