The Vancouver Canucks introduced Sunday that they’ve fired head coach Bruce Boudreau after a tenure that lasted simply over a 12 months and culminated within the Canucks shedding 28 out of their final 46 video games. Assistant coach Trent Cull has additionally been fired.
The Canucks have changed Boudreau with former Arizona Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet, who has been named the twenty first head coach within the historical past of the Canucks franchise. Adam Foote has been named assistant coach, whereas Sergei Gonchar has been employed as a defensive improvement coach.
“We want to lengthen our honest due to Bruce and Trent for their contributions to this group,” learn a press release by Canucks basic supervisor Patrik Allvin. “We recognize their dedication and want them nothing however the most effective transferring ahead. This was not a straightforward determination to make, however one which we felt was needed for this franchise.
“Rick Tocchet brings a wealth of information to this group from each a coach and participant perspective. He has had greater than 20 years of teaching expertise, guiding groups of assorted kinds. As a participant, he displayed a excessive stage of character, grit and depth, whereas recording spectacular offensive numbers.
“We are additionally excited concerning the additions of Adam Foote and Sergei Gonchar to our teaching employees. Both people loved lengthy, profitable enjoying careers as NHL defencemen and collectively present a variety of experience on either side of the puck. Tocchet, Foote, and Gonchar all carry a championship pedigree to the group and we stay up for welcoming them to Vancouver.”
Boudreau, who stays among the many winningest coaches within the NHL since first being employed by the Washington Capitals in 2007, was employed by the Canucks in December 2021 after the firing of each head coach Travis Green and basic supervisor Tim Benning. Although the Canucks would see an uptick in efficiency the remainder of the 2021-22 season, a poor begin to the 2022-23 season put Boudreau’s standing as head coach in jeopardy, with Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford brazenly acknowledging that he had been chatting with potential replacements.
Despite the Canucks’ dysfunction, Boudreau has been a preferred determine in Vancouver, receiving farewell chants Saturday evening after a loss to Edmonton.
“You by no means know if it is the top,” Boudreau mentioned in a report by ESPN. “So while you’ve been in it for nearly 50 years — , nearly all of your life — and now if it is the finish, I needed to keep on the market and have a look at the gang and simply attempt to say, ‘OK, attempt to keep in mind this second kind of factor.'”
Tocchet brings a level of expertise to the Canucks head teaching place, as he posted a 178-200-60 report as head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Coyotes.
