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The embattled Vancouver Canucks head coach, Bruce Boudreau, has been overwhelmed by emotion on several occasions during the last 24 hours.
In addition to winning the Jack Adams Trophy and coaching more than 1,000 NHL games, the 68-year-old bench boss is among the most successful regular-season coaches in hockey history. That being said, Boudreau is aware that he will probably lose his job in the coming days.
It appears that Rick Tocchet will take his place, which is perhaps the worst-kept secret in hockey history.
Boudreau must be furious with the way this has turned out. How could he not be offended by the way he has been treated and hurt that this unpleasant process has taken place in public and taken so long, despite the polite remarks in the media?
He’s processing his feelings as he prepares to coach an underdog team in two straight games this weekend for a disintegrating Canucks franchise. These games may be his last as an NHL benchwarmer.
Nobody in the NHL is guaranteed tomorrow, after all.
Boudreau is controlling these primal feelings in the public eye as an embarrassing situation lurches toward its inevitable conclusion. The emotional stakes are high, but he has occasionally been able to laugh through it. On Friday night, he left his postgame availability earlier than usual. Big feelings are building inside Boudreau, surprising him when they do. They do so abruptly and strongly.
As in Friday, when Boudreau was asked if he would like to savor Vancouver’s next two games during his pregame availability,. The seasoned bench boss was having trouble finishing his response.
When a follow-up question addressed that obvious emotion, Boudreau just replied, “I’ll talk about it later,” and he graciously, empathetically, and tearfully ended the availability.
When asked this morning what it means for him to coach in the NHL, Bruce Boudreau became emotional. #Canucks
Boudreau is a career counselor who genuinely enjoys what she does. Before attempting to break into the NHL, he played minor hockey for sixteen years. That is the résumé of a man who loves to be behind the bench in this game. His life’s work is to work with players and win games.
The players adore him. This market also adores him.
And Boudreau was a breath of fresh air when he arrived in Vancouver some thirteen and a half months ago. He was the only one who could bring hope back to an embattled, disorganized, mediocre, and continuously underwhelming NHL team.
Boudreau quickly became especially close with Canucks supporters. Since Pat Quinn, he is without a doubt the most well-liked head coach in Canucks history.
Thus, despite the fact that the Canucks were behind the reigning Stanley Cup champions at Rogers Arena on Friday, the fans chanted Boudreau’s name, “Bruce There It Is!” in light of everything that has been going on around him.
And Boudreau experienced a resurgence of those intense feelings when he stood on the Canucks bench and touched his heart, mimicking a gesture made by one of his former teammates, Alexander Ovechkin, toward him during a warm-up skate in early December. Boudreau was taken aback by the gesture’s significance.
“Keep it under control, keep it under control,” I was telling myself, so… Speaking in a halting tone, Boudreau described how the chants had affected him.
Vancouver fans yell, “Bruce, there it is!” as Bruce Boudreau breaks down in tears at the bench. 🥹 #Canucks
Boudreau remarked, “It’s unbelievable,” in reference to his interaction with the supporters. “Although I have only been here a year, it will go down in my memory books as the most amazing thing I have ever personally experienced—aside from winning championships—out of the 48 years I have played and coached. It’s really moving.
Boudreau is a sincere individual, and his track record as this level’s hockey coach says it all. But in addition to being unimpressive this season, the Canucks also don’t appear to be very well organized at any point during the game.
which is kind of the point at hand. Given the form and the outcomes, no one would blame the team for changing their head coach, especially in light of the high expectations the team had going into the season and how they’ve performed.
The hockey community has taken notice of the way this situation has developed, though.
In addition to receiving constant public criticism from the club’s leadership, Boudreau has also been left in the dark for weeks now, even though it seems like a replacement has been chosen. Jim Rutherford, president of hockey operations for the Canucks, even went so far as to confirm earlier this week that he had been in contact with possible Boudreau replacements for “months.”
Boudreau has resisted the urge to lash out during it all. He has adopted a moral stance. He’s been sincere, endearing, and caring. He has been Boudreau.
Star center Elias Pettersson of the Canucks said, “We don’t quit, and we don’t quit on Bruce either.”
