Mario Durocher will be remembered, for better or for worse, as the first head coach of the Lewiston Maineiacs, and for the way in which he was abruptly but amicably dismissed at the end of the season.

Durocher began the next chapter of his already-distinguished hockey coaching career on Tuesday when the Acadie-Bathurst Titan announced that he would replace rookie coach Sylvain Couturier, effective immediately.

“I am a hockey coach,” said Durocher after his first practice with his new team. “To be a coach, you need a team, and this opportunity was there.”

The Titan started the season 0-7-0-2, with just two points in nine games, with even those points coming in losses in overtime.

It was the franchise’s worst start in recent memory, and followed on the heels of a season during which the team won just 18 of 70 games.

“The biggest thing with this team will be confidence,” said Durocher. “We need to get that first win as soon as possible to build that in this young team.”

Last year’s coach, Real Paiement, was dismissed at the end of the season, and Couturier was elevated from assistant coach to head coach.

“When a coach gets hired in the middle of the season, it is always a bad situation for one coach and a good one for another,” said Durocher. “

For Durocher, the job marks his third head coaching assignment in the league, the first two lasting two years. In Victoriaville, he led the Tigres to the Memorial Cup Finals.

The opportunity to coach lured him once again from his home in Sherbrooke. One of the reasons Durocher gave to management for leaving the Tigres was that Sherbrooke was his home town. Two years later, he landed in Lewiston when the team relocated.

“Last year, I was looking for a two-year contract in Lewiston and it did not happen,” said Durocher. “That is what I got here.”

Current Titan forward Maxime Robert played under Durocher last season in Lewiston. Robert has expressed frustration with his current situation in Bathurst, where is is relegated to third- and fourth-line duty as a centerman, where last year he played for Durocher on the second line.

“I think I can do more for the team than I did so far this season,” said Robert. “Mario has already told us we will have to prove ourselves again, and I am used to that situation now. Where he knows me and knows what I can do, I think this will be positive for me, and for the team.”