Canucks' Boudreau emotional after touching video tribute in 1,000th game

One of the most successful coaches in NHL history, Bruce Boudreau, stood behind the bench for the 1,000th regular season game of his career on Sunday.

The Vancouver Canucks tugged at Boudreau’s heartstrings pre-game, playing a touching video tribute for the 67-year-old head coach.

“Congratulations on your 1,000th NHL game. How many coaches do that? You have to be so proud,” Scotty Bowman said in the video.

Only 28 other bench bosses have ever coached 1,000 games in the NHL, and Boudreau sits behind only Bowman in all-time winning percentage among them.

He ranks 22nd in all-time wins, which is extra impressive when you consider that Boudreau didn’t get his first NHL coaching gig in Washington until age 52.

Hi Coach 🥺 pic.twitter.com/tbA9KDs6Wr

— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) January 24, 2022

The video featured personal messages from many of the players that Boudreau coached in previous stops during his illustrious career, including Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Kevin Bieksa, Ryan Kesler, Corey Perry, and Marcus Foligno.

“When you see ex-players that you have a lot of respect for saying nice things about you… it gets to you a little bit,” Boudreau said post-game. “You never know how you leave them when you get fired. You don’t know if the players don’t want to play for you or what have you.”

Here’s a look at the video tribute:

The @Canucks celebrated Bruce Boudreau for coaching his 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣th NHL game tonight. 👏 pic.twitter.com/j59GgeyjCX

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 24, 2022

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