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Bruce Allan Boudreau ( ; born January 9, 1955) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He previously served as head coach of the Washington Capitals, Anaheim Ducks, Minnesota Wild, and Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). As a player, Boudreau played professionally for 20 seasons, and was a third round pick (42nd overall) of the Toronto Maple Leafs at the 1975 NHL amateur draft. He played 141 games in the NHL with the Maple Leafs and Chicago Black Hawks, and 30 games in the World Hockey Association (WHA) with the Minnesota Fighting Saints. Boudreau played most of his career in the American Hockey League (AHL) for various teams where he was known for his goals and point-scoring abilities, recording 316 goals and 483 assists for 799 points in 634 games.
After his playing career Boudreau went into coaching and won the Jack Adams Award for the NHL's most outstanding head coach in the 2007–08 NHL season during his tenure with the Capitals. Boudreau is the owner of two junior ice hockey teams, Minnesota Blue Ox and Hershey Cubs, in the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL).
As of 2021, Boudreau has the second-highest winning percentage in NHL history for a coach who has coached at least 900 games.
Boudreau played professional ice hockey for 17 seasons. While his major career was modest, he had a long career in the minor leagues, and was one of the most prolific minor league scorers of all time, largely in the American Hockey League (AHL).
After being drafted to the NHL in the third round, 42nd overall, of the 1975 NHL amateur draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs, Boudreau could not agree with Toronto on a contract and joined the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the World Hockey Association (WHA), making his professional debut in 1975. He played a single season for the Fighting Saints, recording three goals and six assists over 30 games. He spent half that season in the minors, with the Johnstown Jets of the North American Hockey League (NAHL).
Boudreau signed with the Maple Leafs for the 1976–77 season. He spent most of the first nine seasons of his career with the Maple Leafs playing with their farm teams – Central Hockey League (CHL) teams Dallas Black Hawks and Cincinnati Tigers, and AHL teams New Brunswick Hawks and St. Catharines Saints. Later in his career, Boudreau signed with the NHL's Chicago Black Hawks, playing two seasons with their AHL farm team Springfield Indians (with whom he won his only league scoring championship in the 1987–88 AHL season). He later played with the International Hockey League's (IHL) Fort Wayne Komets and the AHL's Nova Scotia Oilers.
Boudreau played parts of eight seasons in the NHL, all but the last – a seven-game stint for the Chicago Black Hawks in the 1985–86 season – for the Maple Leafs. His most significant NHL time came in 1980–81; called up as an injury replacement with the Maple Leafs, he recorded 10 goals and 14 assists in only 39 games. During his time in the NHL, Boudreau recorded 28 goals and 42 assists in 141 games.
He continued on as a minor league star and top scorer right through his final 1991–92 AHL season. His final game came in Springfield when – after a full IHL season with the Fort Wayne Komets – he was signed by the AHL's Adirondack Red Wings as an emergency injury replacement during first-round series of the 1992 Calder Cup playoffs against the New Haven Nighthawks.
Boudreau is the owner of two junior ice hockey teams, Minnesota Blue Ox and Hershey Cubs, in the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL).
He has joined the NHL Network as an analyst when he is not coaching.
Boudreau has been a supporter of the Toronto Maple Leafs since childhood, and admits that he still cheers for the club when the team does not face off against a squad that he is actively coaching, and watches Maple Leafs games on television when he is able to.
Boudreau is known for his talkative personality, earning him the nickname "Gabby". In 2009, he released his memoir, Gabby: Confessions of a Hockey Lifer.
Boudreau's son, Ben, was named head coach of the Ontario Hockey League's Niagara IceDogs in November 2023 after four seasons coaching in the ECHL.
| 1972–73 | Toronto Marlboros | OHA-Jr. | 61 | 38 | 49 | 87 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1972–73 | Toronto Marlboros | Memorial Cup | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1973–74 | Toronto Marlboros | OHA-Jr. | 53 | 46 | 67 | 113 | 51 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1974–75 | Toronto Marlboros | OMJHL | 69 | 68 | 97 | 165 | 52 | 22 | 12 | 28 | 40 | 26 |
| 1974–75 | Toronto Marlboros | M-Cup | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 15 |
| 1975–76 | Minnesota Fighting Saints | WHA | 30 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1975–76 | Johnstown Jets | NAHL | 34 | 25 | 35 | 60 | 14 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 7 |
| 1976–77 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 15 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1976–77 | Dallas Black Hawks | CHL | 58 | 34 | 37 | 71 | 40 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 1977–78 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 40 | 11 | 18 | 29 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1977–78 | Dallas Black Hawks | CHL | 22 | 13 | 9 | 22 | 11 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1978–79 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 26 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1978–79 | New Brunswick Hawks | AHL | 49 | 20 | 38 | 58 | 20 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| 1979–80 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1979–80 | New Brunswick Hawks | AHL | 75 | 36 | 54 | 90 | 47 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 23 |
| 1980–81 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 39 | 10 | 14 | 24 | 18 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1980–81 | New Brunswick Hawks | AHL | 40 | 17 | 41 | 58 | 22 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 14 |
| 1981–82 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1981–82 | Cincinnati Tigers | CHL | 65 | 42 | 61 | 103 | 42 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| 1982–83 | St. Catharines Saints | AHL | 80 | 50 | 72 | 122 | 65 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1982–83 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1983–84 | St. Catharines Saints | AHL | 80 | 47 | 62 | 109 | 44 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 11 |
| 1984–85 | ECD Iserlohn | 1.GBun | 30 | 20 | 28 | 48 | 41 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 1984–85 | Baltimore Skipjacks | AHL | 17 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 4 | 15 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 4 |
| 1985–86 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1985–86 | Nova Scotia Oilers | AHL | 65 | 30 | 36 | 66 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1986–87 | Nova Scotia Oilers | AHL | 78 | 35 | 47 | 82 | 40 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 |
| 1987–88 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 80 | 42 | 74 | 116 | 84 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1988–89 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 50 | 28 | 36 | 64 | 42 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1988–89 | Newmarket Saints | AHL | 20 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 1989–90 | Phoenix Roadrunners | IHL | 82 | 41 | 68 | 109 | 89 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1990–91 | Fort Wayne Komets | IHL | 81 | 40 | 80 | 120 | 111 | 19 | 11 | 7 | 18 | 30 |
| 1991–92 | Fort Wayne Komets | IHL | 77 | 34 | 50 | 84 | 100 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 10 |
| 1991–92 | Adirondack Red Wings | AHL | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Under Boudreau's leadership, the Bears won the Calder Cup championship in 2005–06. The Bears made it all the way back to the Calder Cup finals under Boudreau again in 2007, ultimately falling to the Hamilton Bulldogs.
Previously, Boudreau coached the Mississippi Sea Wolves to the Kelly Cup championship in 1998–99, and also led the Fort Wayne Komets to the Turner Cup Final in 1993–94. Boudreau was awarded the Commissioner's Trophy as coach of the 1993–94 Komets.
Boudreau continued his success in his second season as coach of the Capitals, leading the Capitals to a record of 50–24–8 and 108 points, good enough for another Southeast Division title and second in the Eastern Conference.
In his third season with the Capitals, Boudreau led the team to a 54–15–13 record and 121 points, which was not only good enough for a third straight Southeast Division title, but also was the most points in the NHL, leading to the team's first Presidents' Trophy. Their success in the regular season, however, did not carry over to the postseason, as they lost to the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens in seven games, losing the last three games of the series.
After a hot start to the 2011–12 season, the Capitals fell apart, posting just four wins in 13 games during the month of November 2011. Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin both vastly underperformed during the stretch. These and other factors led to Boudreau's firing on November 28, despite Boudreau having reached 200 regular season wins faster than any coach in the modern NHL era. He was replaced by former Capitals captain and then-London Knights head coach Dale Hunter.
On April 29, 2016, Boudreau was fired by the Ducks after they lost a game 7 on home ice for the fourth consecutive year. He led the Ducks to four consecutive Pacific Division titles in his four full seasons in Anaheim.
On May 7, 2016, Boudreau was hired by the Minnesota Wild as their new head coach. Boudreau led the Wild to a successful regular season finishing second in the Central Division (earning home-ice advantage for the first round series), but the team fell apart in March 2017, after the Martin Hanzal trade, and collapsed in the first round of the playoffs winning just one game on the road and losing every game at home against the St. Louis Blues. During his fourth season with the Wild, he was fired on February 14, 2020.
In the off-season, the Canucks' new president of hockey operations, Jim Rutherford, indicated that they would not immediately extend Boudreau's contract beyond the option for one more season in his initial arrangement. It was subsequently reported that Rutherford, who had been hired after Boudreau, was initially unaware that the latter's contract contained an option for a second year. After the Canucks began the 2022–23 season with a franchise-record seven-game losing streak, Rutherford became publicly critical of the team's performance and, implicitly, of Boudreau. The Province noted "the optics of the owner first hiring Boudreau and then Rutherford were never good," as it was typically management's job to hire the coach.
By January 2023, as the Canucks continued to sink in the standings, Rutherford admitted that he had been speaking to potential replacements for Boudreau. Days later, it began to be reported that Boudreau would soon be replaced by Rick Tocchet. The unusual spectacle of an NHL coach continuing in his job as a began to attract considerable media attention. Addressing the rumours in advance of a January 20 game, Boudreau acknowledged "I'd be a fool to say I don't know what's going on." Despite the team subsequently losing that game to the Colorado Avalanche by a score of 4–1, fans in the stands revived the "Bruce, there it is!" chant in support of Boudreau. Speaking afterward, he said that "I've only been here a year, but it'll go down in my memory books out of the 48 years I've played and coached as the most incredible thing I've experienced on a personal level other than winning championships." On January 21, with media reports that Boudreau would be formally replaced the following Monday (January 23), he oversaw what was believed to be his final game as coach, with the team falling 4–2 to the Edmonton Oilers. He was again saluted by the audience, and said that numerous players had approached him after the game to bid farewell, though he had not heard anything from management. On January 22, the Canucks announced that Boudreau had been fired and replaced by Tocchet. The saga of Boudreau's firing, particularly the publicly-perceived mistreatment of the coach in his final few weeks, became a major news story that was widely reported on beyond the sports world, with criticism being directed towards Rutherford and Canucks management for their treatment of Boudreau. During Tocchet's subsequent introductory press conference, Rutherford apologized for the manner in which Boudreau's dismissal had been handled.
Canada national team (2023)
In December 2023, Boudreau coached Canada national team at the 2023 Spengler Cup. This appearance marked Boudreau's international coaching debut.
Head coaching record
External links
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