Canucks' Rutherford apologizes to Boudreau, blames media for firing leaks
Vancouver Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford delivered another must-watch press conference on Sunday afternoon.
Taking to the Rogers Arena stage alongside newly hired head coach Rick Tocchet and general manager Patrik Allvin, Rutherford opened the media availability by admitting that he might’ve spoken a bit too honestly about the long-drawn out Bruce Boudreau firing — as well as the various problems plaguing his team.
“Part of this process — and I will apologize to Bruce for this — is probably in my interviews over the course of the season, when people ask me a question, I’m probably too direct and too honest. So that goes back to my comment about team playing with structure, more structure things like that. I’ve done that my whole career,” Rutherford said.
“I’ve decided that I need to zip it.”
Canucks president Jim Rutherford apologizes for how the Bruce Boudreau situation was handled pic.twitter.com/16xifNkCHi
— Tim and Friends (@timandfriends) January 22, 2023
Boudreau was officially fired on Sunday morning, just hours before the Canucks’ front office and coaching trio took the stage.
During Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, an emotional Boudreau was clearly a little worked up what could’ve been the final moments of his NHL coaching career.
“I’ve tried to be honest, I’ve tried to answer the best I can and sometimes that affects certain people. And in that case, it probably did affect him,” Rutherford added. “I’m sorry I did that, and I’ve learned from it so I’ve decided that I need to zip it. I’m not gonna talk about the team, I’m gonna let Patrik [Allvin] and Rick [Tocchet] talk about the team and stay away from things.”
Rutherford appeared sincere in his apology to Boudreau, mentioning their longtime friendship. Had Rutherford ended his apology to his former coach there and taken his own advice to “zip it,” he would’ve likely earned some brownie points for his attempts to apologize for the messy Boudreau departure.
But then Rutherford kept going on his following answer in an attempt to explain why Boudreau was kept on as coach — and had to deal with a series of questions and emotional media availabilities about his future— since news of Tocchet replacing him was first leaked on January 14.
“It was the speculation that drove this. It wasn’t us,” Rutherford added. “It’s played out in a way that was out of our control. We can only do our business in the way we see fit. We can’t change our business based on speculation.”
President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford, General Manager Patrik Allvin and Head Coach Rick Tocchet address the media to discuss the coaching changes. https://t.co/bdVnHiCINN
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) January 22, 2023
Intriguing.
Rutherford confirmed in a January 16 presser that he’d been making calls to coaching candidates throughout the season, so it seems strange to suggest that “speculation” drove the tumultuous final days of Boudreau’s 13-month tenure.
Rutherford then compared the team’s situation to the speculation around Travis Green’s firing as head coach in December 2021 before Boudreau was named his replacement.
“It’s not any different than most situations in professional sports,” Rutherford added. “If you go back to the last time there was a coaching change here, there was speculation about it, and the owner was talking to Bruce about coming here before there was a change made. So there’s not a whole lot different, other than what I’ve apologized for, for maybe being more direct with my comments over the course of the season… I’ve had several calls with people that feel this was really overplayed by everybody.”
Tocchet’s first game with the Canucks is on Tuesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Ah, just another day in the Vancouver hockey market.
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