Canucks Finally Fire Bruce Boudreau As Head Coach, Hire Rick Tocchet

It has been a long drawn out process that makes the Vancouver Canucks organization look pretty bad, but they have finally relieved Bruce Boudreau of his duties as head coach. Along with Boudreau, the Canucks also fired assistant coach Trent Cull.

The Canucks hired Rick Tocchet as head coach to replace Boudreau, Adam Foote as an assistant coach, and Sergei Gonchar as a defensive development coach. Tocchet is the 21st head coach in franchise history and the ninth head coach since 2013, not to mention numerous assistant coaches, scouts, and front office types, per Rick Dhaliwal.

The three names the Canucks brought in are top of the line and all have successful careers to back it up. Boudreau on the other hand shouldn't be without a job for very long at all. He could join on to a team in a role other than a head coach for the remainder of the season, wait for a team to fire their head coach, or relax until the summer where jobs will become available.

He is one of the best head coaches all-time and has coached 1087 games, winning 617. He won a Jack Adams Award in 2007-08 and has coached four teams - Washington Capitals, Anaheim Ducks, Minnesota Wild, and the Canucks. This will be the first of his 16-year career where a team he has coached has a below-.500 win percentage on the season. The Canucks are 18-25-3 at the time of his firing.

Tocchet has a less impressive resume as he has only been a head coach in six seasons and for two teams - Tampa Bay Lightning for two seasons and the Arizona Coyotes for four. He last coached in 2020-21.