Canucks Make Decision On Coach Bruce Boudreau

Amidst plenty of speculation over the past few weeks, the Vancouver Canucks have made it official: Bruce Boudreau will be back as head coach for the 2022-23 season.

Bruce Boudreau will officially be back as the @Canucks head coach for the 2022-23 season.

How do you feel, #Canucks fans? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/kYkN5mZUly

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 13, 2022

The 15-year coaching veteran and former Jack Adams trophy winner did a nice job turning around the floundering Canucks when he took over partway through the season. Just 8-15-2 when he took the reigns, Boudreau led Vancouver to a 32-15-10 record, despite falling just short of a playoff berth. He even became just the 3rd coach in NHL history to win his first 7 games with a new team.

As noted by Mike Stevens of The Hockey News, he allowed the team's offensive stars to do their thing, with Bo Horvat notching his first 30-goal season, and centre JT Miller blowing away his career-high with 99 points. 

"My desire has always been to come back to coach this team," Boudreau said in a release. "I love the organization, city, fans and the players. 

The 67-year-old Boudreau has compiled an impressive 208-104-40 coaching record in his 15 seasons behind the bench, for a .648 winning percentage. Of those 15 years, no less than 8 of them were spent guiding a team to 1st place in their division—4 times with the Washington Capitals and 4 times with the Anaheim Ducks. 

Photo Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports