Bruce Boudreau rips into old Vancouver Canucks regime
Bruce Boudreau didn’t mince words when asked about the latest changes to the Vancouver Canucks front office.
“It couldn’t have happened soon enough, to be quite frank with that,” Boudreau said on the Fellowship of the Rink podcast.
Culture has been a buzzword ever since Henrik and Daniel Sedin took over as co-presidents and Ryan Johnson as general manager.
And while that invites memories of Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller in a broken Canucks dressing room, the dysfunction predated their feud going public. And it started at the top.
Boudreau was hired by Canucks ownership, before Jim Rutherford agreed to come on board.
It started off well, as the Canucks rattled off seven straight wins under Boudreau, and “Bruce there it is” was born. But despite getting Vancouver back into the playoff race, Boudreau never had Rutherford’s support.
The Canucks had an impressive 24-13-7 record under Boudreau when reports first surfaced that the team was considering firing him at the tail-end of the 2021-22 season.
Then, just 12 games into the next season, Rutherford began criticizing him publicly. Boudreau was dead-man walking before he was fired in January 2023, with news leaking out that Rick Tocchet had already been chosen as his successor.
Boudreau is not a fan of the old regime. (Bob Frid/Imagn Images)
So needless to say, Boudreau isn’t a fan of the old regime, with at least three exceptions: Johnson and the Sedins.
“Ryan Johnson was the GM of Abbotsford when I was there,” Boudreau added. “He was the only one that was easy to talk to. The only one that would have a conversation worried about ‘what do I have to say now’ to make sure it doesn’t get back to anybody. He makes you feel comfortable to talk to him. I think in that aspect he’s going to be really good.”
Boudreau worked closely with Daniel and Henrik also.
“The Sedins, they were in an awful lot of meetings that I had. They were there after the game when we’d sit around and chat… I think they’re going to be helpful.”
Boudreau raved about how the Sedins worked and learned in their roles as development coaches.
“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.”
He may have been projecting a little there.
“I think they’re going to be really good ambassadors for the Vancouver Canucks and they’re obviously very smart. They sat there, they were quiet, and they listened, and they learned.
“I think those three guys 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.”