"I'll never forget them": Bruce Boudreau is still showing love for Canucks fans

Bruce Boudreau was beloved by Vancouver Canucks fans.

And the feeling was mutual.

It’s been one month since Boudreau coached his final game in Vancouver, but he still can’t say enough good things about Canucks fans.

“The Vancouver fans are always fabulous. One thing you learn to love about them is how passionate they are about the game,” Boudreau told Don Taylor and Rick Dhaliwal during Tuesday’s edition of Donnie and Dhali on CHEK. “When we were losing, they want their team to win so badly that they would get upset, and you would hear and see it sometimes. When you were winning, they were there cheering ’til the end.

“The greatest thing about going to Vancouver, or any Canadian city quite frankly, is you see the absolute passion they have for the game. I was overwhelmed by their support, overwhelmed by the way they loved their hockey, from everywhere… They were overwhelmingly nice to me. And when I didn’t deserve it, or when the team didn’t deserve it, they were overwhelmingly letting you know that they weren’t happy.”

Boudreau saw both ends of Canucks fandom. The famed “Bruce there it is” chant was born in his very first game behind the Canucks bench. Vancouver won 4-0 that night and rattled off seven victories in a row to start Boudreau’s tenure.

The Canucks posted the 11th-best points percentage (.649) in the NHL after Boudreau took over in 2021-22, but the “Bruce bump” didn’t last forever.

Things went off the rails quickly this season. They lost their first seven games in a row and had the sixth-worst points percentage (.424) before Boudreau was let go.

Yet through all the anger from the fanbase, which included multiple jerseys tossed onto the ice this season, Boudreau was still beloved. In fact, anger turned towards management and ownership this season far more than the former Canucks bench boss.

“I just want to thank them so much. I appreciate it.

“The letters that they’ve given, and just the remarks. I’ll never forget them. Forever. I’ve been to an awful lot of places in my almost 50 years of pro hockey, and it’s still as good a fanbase as I’ve seen — probably better than most as far as the way they treated me. I’ll never forget it. I can only say thank you for everything they did for me.”

Boudreau is well known for his positive outlook, and that was true in this 11-minute interview. He has every reason to be upset at the way he was treated by Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin but refused to say anything bad about them.

“Nope,” Boudreau said when asked if he was mad at anybody, before saying he was “grateful” to Canucks owner Francesco for giving him the chance to coach in the NHL again — perhaps for the final time.

Boudreau has gone back to working for the NHL Network as an analyst, but the 68-year-old is staying ready in case another NHL team comes calling.

“I think I’m still very capable of doing the job. You just never know… I watch every team, see how they’re doing, and stay prepared that if anybody wants an experienced coach that I’m going to be available to work for them.”

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