Canucks hire Bruce Boudreau as head coach to replace Travis Green
Bruce Boudreau is the newest coach of the Vancouver Canucks. (AP/file)
Vancouver Canucks have fired head coach Travis Green and hired Bruce Boudreau to replace him, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reports.
The move came Sunday, after the Canucks lost for the 10th time in 13 games, falling 4-1 to the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
It was a particularly ugly night with fans chanting "Fire Benning" – making their feelings known about general manager Jim Benning in the third period. Later, one fan tossed a jersey on the ice as a modest two-game win streak – against two of the weaker teams in the league in Montreal and Ottawa – came to an end.
The Canucks are 8-15-2 on the season, last in the Pacific Division.
Boudreau has coached the Washington Capitals, Anaheim Ducks and, most recently, the Minnesota Wild. In 984 games coached, he has 567 wins, 302 losses and 115 overtime losses. In 2007–08, while with the Capitals, Boudreau won the Jack Adams Award as top coach, but his inability to take an Alex Ovechkin-led team deep into the playoffs and an early-season slump led to his dismissal on Nov. 28, 2011.
Over 14 seasons behind the bench, Boudreau has never had a losing season. He has, however, never coached a team to the Stanley Cup Final, getting to the conference finals once.
After being fired by the Wild on Feb. 14, 2020, and spent part of this season as an analyst with the NHL Network – which is appropriate for a guy whose nickname is "Gabby."
Boudreau, 66, was born in Toronto and played for both his hometown Marlies as well as Maple Leafs. His playing career was spent primarily in the minors, however, over 779 games between 1972 and 1992 in the AHL, CHL and IHL. In 141 NHL games, all with the Leafs, he had 28 goals and 42 assists for 70 points.
The 50-year-old Green, a native of Castlegar, B.C., became the second head coach fired in the NHL this season after Chicago's Jeremy Colliton .
