Canadiens coach Claude Julien taken to hospital after experiencing chest pains

Montreal Canadiens coach Claude Julien was taken to a hospital in Toronto after experiencing chest pains following the team’s first-round playoff game against the Philadelphia Flyers and is not expected to return behind the bench for the rest of this series, general manager Marc Bergevin said Thursday.

Bergevin said Julien’s problems are not related to COVID-19. Associate head coach Kirk Muller will be the interim head coach.

Julien, 60, led the 12th-seeded Canadiens to an upset of the fifth-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins in qualifying-round play. The Canadiens lost the opener of their first-round playoff series 2-1 to the Flyers on Wednesday.

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“Claude felt chest pains during the night,” Bergevin said Thursday in Toronto, one of the NHL’s two playoff hubs. “We immediately consulted our doctors and it was agreed to quickly transfer him to the hospital by ambulance. He’s presently there and is under[going] tests to determine exactly the nature of his condition.”

Game 2 of the series is scheduled for Friday.