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Travis Green fired. Bruce Boudreau to be named HC


J0e Th0rnton

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Lowly Vancouver Canucks hire Bruce Boudreau to replace Travis Green as coach amid major management shake-up

The Vancouver Canucks fired coach Travis Green and general manager Jim Benning on Sunday, the team announced, signaling a wave of change throughout the struggling franchise.

With the team stuck in last place in the Pacific Division, Bruce Boudreau was hired to replace Green. Boudreau is the Canucks' 20th coach.

Also fired were assistant GM John Weisbrod and assistant coach Nolan Baumgartner.

 

"First, I want to sincerely thank Jim, John, Travis and Nolan for their passion and dedication to the organization and our community," Canucks chairman Francesco Aquilini said in a statement. "We are grateful for everything they have done for the Canucks during their tenure, and we wish them nothing but success in the future.

 

"These are difficult decisions, but we believed we would have a competitive group this year. As a result, I'm extremely disappointed in how the team has performed so far. I'm making these changes because we want to build a team that competes for championships and it's time for new leadership to help take us there."

 

Scott Walker, 49, was named assistant coach to Boudreau. Walker spent four seasons playing right wing for the Canucks from 1994 to '98. He previously coached the Ontario Hockey League's Guelph Storm and worked as the Storm's president of hockey operations.

 

Stan Smyl will serve as Vancouver's interim GM, with Ryan Johnson taking on the role of interim assistant GM.

 

The shake-up come a day after a disheartening home loss in which fans voiced their displeasure with "Fire Benning" chants. The 58-year-old Benning was known for some solid draft picks and questionable free-agent signings over his eight seasons as GM.

 

Green was promoted to Vancouver's bench on April 26, 2017, after coaching the club's American Hockey League affiliate, the Utica Comets. Despite an impressive run in the NHL playoff bubble of 2020, he was dismissed after 289 games, finishing with a 125-132-32 record.

 

Vancouver made the postseason only once in Green's tenure, during the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season, but that run was promising. The Canucks advanced to the second round in Edmonton, Alberta, that summer, eventually falling to the Vegas Golden Knights.

 

This season has been abysmal for Vancouver, with the Canucks owning the second-worst record in the Western Conference at 8-15-2.

 

Last month, Green deflected questions about being on the hot seat amid the growing chorus of disgruntled fans calling for change.

 

"I don't listen to the noise," Green told reporters. "I only worry about coaching the team. I do understand when people get upset. But ... it doesn't have an effect on me one way or the other."

 

Shortly after Green made those comments, Benning met with the media, and he didn't give Green a vote of confidence.

 

"We're looking at everything," Benning said at the time. "We're trying to find solutions to our problems, and Travis and his staff are working hard. Losing is wearing on them, like it's wearing on all of us.

 

This is something that I didn't expect to happen after the moves we made this summer. But it's happening, and we have to deal with it."

 

After a spring of headlines around his future, Green reached an agreement on a contract extension with the Canucks on May 21, adding two more years to his deal. But there have been several issues for the Canucks this season, the most glaring of which is their lack of star power, and Green just wasn't able to find the right mix.

 

Star center Elias Pettersson, who signed a three-year, $22 million contract in October, has been nearly invisible, with just four goals in his first 25 games. Brock Boeser led Vancouver in points last season, but he has just 10 points in 22 games thus far. Even captain Bo Horvat has struggled, producing just 13 points.

 

By late November, not even Canucks players were hiding their frustrations any longer. After a 4-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, marking Vancouver's seventh defeat in eight games, J.T. Miller was asked if everyone in the dressing room was still buying in.

 

"I don't know," Miller said, sparking another tidal wave of criticism levied against the Canucks' underperformance.

 

Coincidentally, it was another 4-1 loss to the Penguins -- Saturday on home ice -- that seems to have been the final nail in Green's coffin. As such, the pressure to turn things around quickly under Boudreau and the new staff will be intense.

 

This opportunity with the Canucks will be Boudreau's fourth stop as an NHL coach, after stints with the Washington Capitals, Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota Wild. He was working as an analyst for the NHL Network this season.

 

Boudreau was fired by the Wild in February 2020, after a 27-23-7 start to the 2019-20 season. In all, Boudreau has coached 984 NHL games, with a 567-302-115 record.

Boudreau will be behind the bench Monday night, when Vancouver plays host to the Los Angeles Kings.

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Benning sh&t canned as well....

 

Canucks fire GM Jim Benning, confirm search for new ‘leadership’

Canucks also reportedly fire GM Jim Benning
Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
  •  

Canucks confirm changes, including Jim Benning no longer being GM

Apparently the Vancouver Canucks made decisions beyond Bruce Boudreau replacing Travis Green as head coach. Late on Sunday, the Canucks confirmed big changes to their front office, including firing GM Jim Benning.

To summarize:

  • Benning is no longer Canucks GM. For the time being, the Canucks named Stan Smyl as interim GM.
  • The Canucks also fired assistant GM John Weisbrod. Vancouver named Ryan Johnson as interim assistant GM.
  • The team’s press release notes others will be involved in the big decisions. Along with Smyl and Johnson, that group will include Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Chris Gear, and Doug Jarvis.
  • In the release, the Canucks referred to a “search for new hockey operations leadership.”
  • Read more about the coaching changes here. In short: Bruce Boudreau replaced Travis Green as head coach; meanwhile, Nolan Baumgartner is out, while Scott Walker slides into an assistant coach job.

Canucks chairman/governor Francesco Aquilini addressed changes, including firing Jim Benning GM, in that statement. Here’s the portion of the release most relevant to the front office changes:

“These are difficult decisions, but we believed we would have a competitive group this year. As a result, I’m extremely disappointed in how the team has performed so far. I’m making these changes because we want to build a team that competes for championships and it’s time for new leadership to help take us there.

“Our search for new leadership is underway. In the interim, Stan Smyl will lead our Hockey Operations team with the strong support of Ryan Johnson, Chris Gear, Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Doug Jarvis and others on the team to ensure day-to-day continuity. Stan has been a very loyal and committed member of our Hockey Operations Senior Management structure for many years and is someone whose experience and leadership we value greatly.”

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Caps fans recall Bruce Boudreau with both fondness and fury.  He comes up as an unknown Everyman from the minors (Hershey PA) to coach the Caps to the playoffs in 2007-2008 after their one major rebuilding phase in 40 years (since the 81-82 season) where they hadn’t gotten to the playoffs since the 2003 debacle against Tampa Bay led to the end of the Bondra Era.

 

But he reigned during what is arguably the largest Caps Choke of many…losing to 8-seed Habs, blowing 3-1 game lead in 1st round as President’s Cup winner in the spring of 2010.  I still recall the deep mental depression of that.

 

Still, I rooted for Boudreau after being fired then hired a day later by Anaheim. Hope he has success with the Canucks.

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31 minutes ago, Icechipper said:

Boudreau played Hartman and Foligno as fourth line wingers in Minnesota. Great guy but more good ol boys hiring in the NHL.

Hartman was a 3rd/4th line winger at the time. He bounced around. 

 

He showed early promise in Chicago then fizzled. Then was a no show in Nashville and not good in his short Philly stay.

 

His success now is due to lack of options for a 1st line winger for Kaprizov. Be great if he could keep it up, but unlikely

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2 hours ago, J0e Th0rnton said:

Hartman was a 3rd/4th line winger at the time. He bounced around. 

 

He showed early promise in Chicago then fizzled. Then was a no show in Nashville and not good in his short Philly stay.

 

His success now is due to lack of options for a 1st line winger for Kaprizov. Be great if he could keep it up, but unlikely

That could be, but Hartman seems to be at least third line material. BB seemed happy giving a lot of TOI to the 1st and 2nd line guys. That works sometimes, and other times, other teams, rolling four lines would work better. Boudreau is a likable guy, though. I hope him all the best.

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  • 5 months later...
On 12/6/2021 at 4:10 AM, yave1964 said:

Love the guy, if anyone is going to straighten out a locker room and get everyone rowing the same way it is Boudreau.

 

 

They think so too...

Bruce Boudreau to return as coach of Vancouver Canucks next season

3:33 PM ET
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Boudreau was hired by Canucks chairman Francesco Aquilini before the team hired president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford and made Allvin their general manager.

 

"My desire has always been to come back to coach this team," Boudreau said. "I love the organization, city, fans and the players. I'm also grateful for the opportunity provided to me by Jim and Patrik to continue building what we started."

 

Boudreau's contract was for two years, with a coach's option on the second year. He had until June 1 to decide on that option. Despite the coach's success, Rutherford made it clear after the season that there wouldn't be a new contract in the offering and the Canucks would welcome him back "on the contract he originally agreed to"

 

"That's certainly not to say that at the end of next year we wouldn't want him back if he continues to do the job he's doing. I just feel that as good a job as he's done, it wasn't a full season," said Rutherford, who also criticized the team's "structure" under Boudreau in that news conference.

Boudreau has a career record of 599-317-125 with the Washington Capitals, Anaheim Ducks, Minnesota Wild and the Canucks. He won the Jack Adams Award as the league's top coach in 2007-08. With one victory next season, Boudreau would become the 22nd coach in NHL history to reach 600 wins.

 

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Glad Boudreau is gonna get a full season to try and get these guys to the playoffs.

When I heard Vancouver was "dragging their feet" on re-signing him, I thought for sure they were gonna pull another stupid move, let him go, then go hire some other guy who falls on his face, then who they have to fire before the season is up.

Boudreau wants to win, wants his guys to win.
No question the team played much better under him than they did under Travis Green, so why WOULDN'T you want him back?

One thing though:
Boudreau, last I checked, is STILL not a miracle worker.
Canucks best try and get him some more sandpaper type players, especially on defense.

As well as the Canucks managed with the Downey Soft defense they had last year, imagine what the coach and the team could do with a more stout blue line!
If the Canucks need to trade off a talented player to get quality grip, so be it.....none of this talk of trading JT Miller. He is EXACTLY the type of player the Canucks want onboard!

Trade off a Brock Boeser maybe for some physical players? Sure.
Get Bruce some better playoff type guys!

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