Bruce Boudreau fights back tears as he waits for pending Canucks firing
Bruce Boudreau is going to get fired.
Everyone knows it, and that includes himself.
The question is when, but the answer appears to be soon.
Reports have surfaced that the Canucks have already picked Rick Tocchet to be their next head coach, and president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford did nothing to suppress those rumours on Monday.
Tocchet is now reportedly close to signing with the Canucks, with an announcement potentially coming as soon as Monday.
That means that back-to-back games at Rogers Arena on Friday and Saturday could be the final time we see Boudreau behind the Canucks’ bench. Given his age, the 68-year-old might soon be coaching in the NHL for the final time too.
“I’d be a fool to say that I don’t know what’s going on,” Boudreau told reporters after Friday’s morning skate.
When asked if he’d take time to “savour” what could be his last two games as head coach, Boudreau got emotional. There are few people in the world who love hockey more than him.
“You come to work and you realize how great the game is,” Boudreau said, as he began to get emotional.
He was later asked what it means to be a head coach in the NHL.
Boudreau couldn’t answer the question.
“I’ll talk later,” said the Canucks coach, fighting back tears, before walking off.
Bruce Boudreau got emotional this morning when asked what it means for him to coach in the NHL#Canucks pic.twitter.com/c940BthyXV
— Tim and Friends (@timandfriends) January 20, 2023
Boudreau did find time for some humour today too, after inadvertently trolling the Vancouver media.
The Canucks coach wasn’t present at the morning skate, leading to brief speculation that he had been fired.
“Fooled you, eh?” Boudreau told the assembled media at Rogers Arena, according to Thomas Drance of The Athletic.
“Fooled you, eh?” jokes Bruce Boudreau of not taking the ice at morning skate on Friday. #Canucks
— Thomas Drance (@ThomasDrance) January 20, 2023
He fooled his wife, too.
“I’ve got my wife phoning me saying, ‘You’re not on the ice! Is everything okay?’ So you guys are getting it out all over the country,” Boudreau said.
“I said, ‘I’m still here! I don’t go on the ice all the time!'”
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