Former Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau had interesting things to say about Vancouver's former management group.
The Vancouver Canucks are ushering in a new era with their changes to their management group. Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin are out, with Daniel and Henrik Sedin and Ryan Johnson taking their places. With it comes the hope that Vancouver’s culture will undergo a shift.
The first head coach to take up a role under the old management regime was Bruce Boudreau. The veteran NHL coach spent around one year with the Canucks before being fired mid-season in 2023 in a drawn-out process that resulted in Vancouver receiving backlash. Rich Tocchet later came in to take Boudreau’s place.
Earlier today, Boudreau gave his thoughts on how the team’s new management team will differ from the old group, not shying away from his critique of his former Vancouver colleagues.
“I think [Johnson and the Sedins] are going to be so much better than to have Jim there and Patrik Allvin, who did whatever Jim wanted anyway, so it didn’t really matter if Patrik was there or not,” he said on the Fellowship of the Rink podcast.
While his tenure with the Canucks wasn’t long, Boudreau did get to work with both Johnson and the Sedins at some points during his time with Vancouver. The former Canucks head coach had ample praise for Johnson, who had been the Abbotsford Canucks’ GM during Boudreau’s time with Vancouver.
“He was the only one that was easy to talk to. The only one that would have a conversation where you weren’t worried that, ‘what do I have to say now,’ to make sure that it doesn’t get back to anybody,” he said. “It makes you feel comfortable to talk to him.”
Oct 24, 2022; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau on the bench against Carolina Hurricanes in the first period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY SportsBoudreau was also quick to celebrate the Sedins’ promotion, citing their commitment to the organization and willingness to be involved on all levels as an indicator that they should do well in the roles they have taken up.
“They would go to Abbotsford, they would go on the ice, they’d show the kids faceoffs, they would show our guys faceoffs,” he said. “The players in both Abbotsford and Vancouver felt comfortable to talk to them because they weren’t judging you outwardly. They weren’t sitting there and making public statements about you that didn’t need to be made.”
In Boudreau’s time as head coach, the Canucks posted a record of 50–40–13, including a 32–15–10 stretch during the final 57 games of the 2021–22 season. During the first half of the 2022–23 season, in Boudreau’s final 46 games with the Canucks, Vancouver put up a record of 18–25–3. The longtime NHL head coach registered his best season record with the Washington Capitals in 2009–10 (54–15–13).
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