Bruce Boudreau has been fired as coach of the Vancouver Canucks, who are again on track to miss the playoffs with another underachieving season.
The team announced the change Sunday, less than a week since president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford said “major surgery” was needed to fix the Canucks, who have only made the playoffs once in the past eight years. Rick Tocchet was hired as Boudreau’s replacement for a Vancouver team that has lost 28 of 46 games this season.
“This was not an easy decision to make but one that we felt was necessary for this franchise,” General Manager Patrik Allvin said in a statement thanking Boudreau for his contributions.
Boudreau waved to the crowd after the Canucks’ latest defeat Saturday night, their third in the last four games. Chants of “Bruce, there it is!” to the tune of Tag Team’s “Whoomp! (There It Is)” echoed around the arena as a tribute to the well-respected 68-year-old hockey lifer who ranks among the top regular-season coaches in NHL history.
Boudreau took over in December 2021 when previous coach Travis Green and general manager Jim Benning were let go 25 games into last season.
Boudreau was with his fourth NHL organization after stints with Washington, Anaheim and Minnesota. He won the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year in 2007-08, when he was elevated from the minors to coach the Capitals on Thanksgiving and got them to the playoffs.
Teams coached by Boudreau for a full season have made the playoffs nine out of 10 times. His .626 points percentage ranks fourth among coaches with at least 500 games behind the bench, and his 617 wins are tied for 20th in league history.
SUNDAY’S GAMES
DEVILS 2, PENGUINS 1: Dougie Hamilton scored on a power play in overtime to give New Jersey a win over visiting Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh’s Marcus Pettersson appeared to score the winner earlier in overtime, but the Penguins were called for too many men on the ice.
JETS 5, FLYERS 3: Axel Jonsson-Fjällby, Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele gave Winnipeg an early three-goal lead, and the Jets held on at Philadelphia.
Kevin Hayes scored twice while playing in his 600th career game, and Ivan Provorov added a goal for Philadelphia.
KINGS 2, BLACKHAWKS 1: Jaret Anderson-Dolan scored twice and Los Angeles won at Chicago, snapping a four-game losing streak.
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