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Even without playoffs, Boudreau says Canucks' year ended on a positive note |
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In his NHL head coaching career, Bruce Boudreau has been known as a turnaround artist who can quickly change a team's regular-season fortunes.
But his messaging seems to have a bit of a shelf life.
He lasted 329 games in Washington, coaching the last 61 games of the 2007-08 season and getting axed 22 games into 2011-12. His regular-season record was 201-88-40 (.672). He made the playoffs in all four seasons, but won just two series and, most memorably, suffered a first-round defeat at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens in 2009-10, the first time the Capitals won the Presidents' Trophy.
After Boudreau was let go by the Capitals, it took him just two days to secure a new job in Anaheim. With the Ducks, he lasted 352 games, with a regular-season record of 208-104-40 (.648).
Under Randy Carlyle, the Ducks started the 2011-12 season with a record of 7-13-4. After Boudreau was hired on Nov. 30, they went 27-23-8, but still missed the playoffs by 15 points.
The Ducks then won five straight Pacific Division titles. But during a stretch where all the California teams were very strong, their playoff pinnacle was their seven-game loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2015 Western Conference Final — a memory that Boudreau is still sour about.
"I couldn't watch the finals because I felt we were better than Chicago and we would have won the Cup," he said during his season-ending media availability on Monday. "But, you know, stuff happens."
The Ducks relieved Boudreau of his duties at the end of the 2015-16 season, after another regular-season division title was followed by a seven-game first-round loss to the Nashville Predators.
By fall, he'd landed in Minnesota, where he coached 303 games with a record of 158-110-35 (.579). The Wild went out quietly in the playoffs in his first two seasons, a pair of five-game first round losses to the Blues and the Jets, respectively, then failed to reach the postseason in 2018-19.
Boudreau was replaced by Dean Evason 57 games into the 2019-20 season. And while the Wild have remade their image and are being seen as a fun, exciting team for the first time in the history of their franchise, playoff success still remains elusive. Under Evason, the Wild were defeated by the Canucks in the qualifying round of the 2020 bubble in Edmonton, lost a seven-game thriller to Vegas last year, and laid an egg on home ice against the St. Louis Blues in Game 1 of this year's tournament on Monday night.
The Ducks also failed to get over the hump after parting ways with Boudreau. Only the Capitals have gone on to greater success — and they had to cycle through Dale Hunter and Adam Oates before Barry Trotz led them to their championship in 2018, with everyone knowing that his walking papers had already been signed.
Now, 57 games into his tenure with the Canucks, Boudreau is 32-15-10 (.649).
Speaking to the media on Monday, Boudreau made it clear that he does want to come back to Vancouver next year.
"I told Patrik (Allvin) and Jim (Rutherford) that I wanted to coach here next year," he said in no uncertain terms. "We're just talking right now and I'm sure, hopefully, things get done. But I think they want me back and I know I want to be back, so I think it should work out."
Allvin and Rutherford are holding their season-ending presser on Tuesday afternoon. I'd be surprised if we didn't hear similar messaging from them.
The Canucks turned around their season on the ice after Boudreau took over and, listening to the players speak at their year-end exit interviews on Sunday, it was crystal clear how much new life he has breathed into the dressing room, bringing out the best in players and creating a more positive, supportive team culture.
On Monday, Boudreau talked about empowering his players and not just listening to their ideas, but implementing them as much as possible. That's what led to Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes on the penalty kill — where the shorthanded success rate improved from the horrific 64.6% rate under Travis Green through the first 25 games of the season to a very respectable 80.5% in 57 games under Boudreau — 11th overall through that stretch.
That got them out of the league basement when all was said and done — at 74.9% for the year. Ahead of Detroit (73.8%), tied with Seattle, and just a hair behind both Winnipeg and Arizona (75.0%). But not, in the end, historically bad.
I covered Sunday's player availability for the Canadian Press, and focused my story on how the culture shift looks like something the Canucks will be able to build on going forward.
And it's not some secret sauce. Boudreau gave a clear, straightforward explanation of how he likes to work on Monday — something that we've now seen take hold.
"The way I am is, I think I'm pretty positive and everything's about winning," he said Monday, "and I think it didn't take long for everybody to understand that.
"It didn't matter what we did. It was about winning, and I think that's a great culture to have. It starts with practice. It starts with the will to win every game.
"I don't know if I've already said it here, but you take away about four games, (there) wasn't a game we weren't in and battled to the end, whether it was the best team in the league, or a lesser team. We fought to win every game and I think at the end of the year, we came in expecting to win every game we played.
"Even when we won those six in a row, when we went into Minnesota, we were sure we were going to win that game. And then when we lost that game, we were sure we were going to win in Calgary.
"It didn't happen, but that's the culture that I want to see. That's the mindset that I want to see when players come to this team, that they expect to win. Because when you expect to win if you see somebody not working as hard as you or doing things that you're willing to do and they won't, you let them know. Then, the leadership in the room becomes bigger and stronger, and it becomes the way you play and the way you live."
If the Canucks can get five seasons out of Boudreau, that'll be a good run. The revolving door league-wide seems to have sped up in recent years, but the Aquilinis have been pretty patient owners during their tenure. The only coaches in Vancouver's franchise history who have logged more than 300 games are Alain Vigneault (540 games), Marc Crawford (529 games), Harry Neale (315 games) and Travis Green (314 games).
And after Jeff Blashill's dismissal in Detroit over the weekend, only four active NHL coaches have been in their current positions for more than four seasons/300 games: Jon Cooper in Tampa (634 games, two Stanley Cups), Mike Sullivan in Pittsburgh (425 games, two Stanley Cups), Jared Bednar in Colorado (372 games, two Presidents' Trophies) and Bruce Cassidy in Boston (317 games, most points when the 2019-20 season was paused, Stanley Cup Final in 2019).
Assuming Boudreau is back next fall, that will also bring some continuity that should be a positive going forward.
"It's very rare that you end the year not making the playoffs but on a very positive note," Boudreau said. "I think they'll take that, all summer, and they will look to come back and be a different team in training camp, and at the beginning, than they have been in the past.
"I think that's going to be the biggest factor is that this summer, they're going to come back and they're going to expect to win. And the reason I like it is because the youth of this team is is so good.
"If you look at all the great teams — I mean, look at Tampa, for instance. They've got the best goalie. They have the best defenseman and they have some of the best forwards.
"When you look at the Vancouver Canucks, they've got a great goalie, they've got one of the best defensemen, they've got three great centremen.
"Not too many teams have that, and with a couple little tweaks here and there, I think this team can be very, very dangerous next year."
And one quick final note — don't forget that the Abbotsford Canucks will play their first two playoff games of their best-of-three series against the Bakersfield Condors on Tuesday and Wednesday night in Bakersfield. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. PT both nights.
After their disappointing end to the regular season, some important reinforcements have been added.
If you think the Baby Canucks can make a run, the price point of US$29.99 plus taxes to livestream on AHL TV is not bad at all.
Enjoy the games!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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