Bruce Boudreau out per Friedman, Russo

[The Winter Soldier]

Not trying to be funny and Maurice gets an extension the other day. Bruce is a good coach. He will likely get a shot somewhere down the line. There is no shortage of NHL coaching candidates with this firing.

 

[Bronson]

Guerin wants to tank.

 

[Empoleon8771]

The timing of this firing makes no sense. If Guerin just wanted to get one of his guys in, instead of going with the old coach, why not wait until after the season? Firing the coach and trading a top-6 winger as you're surging looks like a tanking move to me.

 

[Nsjohnson]

Stealth Tank?

 

[TaLoN]

Someone will hire him quick... he was never the problem in Minnesota.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

I'm no expert on the Wild but it would seem that the roster is the issue here. I'm not sure if another coach can squeeze any more points out of that team.

 

[TaLoN]

I'm no expert on the Wild but it would seem that the roster is the issue here. I'm not sure if another coach can squeeze any more points out of that team.

Bruce is known for getting the best out of the players he has... I highly doubt the next guy coming in will be an upgrade in any way.

 

[Foppberg]

I wished.... oh, I wished.... So tired of Bednar.

Lol wut

 

[jetsforever]

At least Wild management tried to do something
Jets just extended our (middling to bad) coach
Wish we could pick up Boudreau

 

[bdub24]

Here come Laviolette.

 

[Al Lagoon]

Bruce wasn't perfect:

Fiala waited a good moment to find himself on the PP and OT. But he did figure that one out.

He also demoted Koivu to the 4th line, which was overdue.

Donato, in spite of scoring when played and finding little ice-time, is getting a bit more.

Even though Dubnyk is the big money starter, he played Staylok more as performance merited.

Wait a minute - why did we fire the guy?

My only gripe was the deference to underperforming vets on NMCs. Looks like as he worked out of that, he worked out of a job as well.

Happy trails Bruce - you are right there with Lemaire as a great Wild coach.

 

[57special]

So, Galchenyuk got his coach fired after only two games.

Coaching a team with aging vets with NMC's can't be fun. Really, what can you say to Parise, Zuccarello or Suter, when you know that they can't be traded, no matter how shit they play? When all Suter has to do is pick up the phone and talk to the owner if he doesn't like what's being said to him.

I can understand Crosby getting a NMC and a long term contract. Not Parise, or Zuccarello.

BB is not the problem in MN. He kept them as accountable as they could be, under the circumstances. Very, very few fans thought he was the problem. Aging and ineffective players are.

BTW, BB would be the perfect coach for a win now team like the Leafs.

 

[Web In Front]

Without having any inside knowledge I would guess something along these lines happened: Maurice gets an extension in Winnipeg despite the Jets' playoff fate being every bit as uncertain as Minnesota's, Boudreau asks Guerin where his extension is, Guerin gives him some vague response about making those decisions after the season, Boudreau knowing he'll have plenty of offers in the summer decides he doesn't want to be a lame duck coach and tells Guerin to fire him now if he doesn't plan on bringing him back next year. That's the only scenario that makes sense.

 

[mad4comp]

Only reason they'd fire him is because they want to tank. Bruce is gonna be a good pickup for some team. He'd do wonders in Nashville with that roster.

 

[rynryn]

everyone sort of assumed he would be gone but the timing here is strange. Team was playing well, three points out of playoffs, no one lined up for the perm job. weird. congratulations to the team that picks him up!

 

[Lukin1978]

Meanwhile in Winnipeg mediocrity is rewarded with an extension.

 

[Menzinger]

Bad call.

I can understand fans general discontentment with how4nthings have been going, and obviously responsibility has to fall somewhere....

But will be hard to find better, hes able to find a way to get the most out of guys.

Imo this reads like action for the sake of action by a new GM

 

[TMLeafer]

Nooo Gabby!

 

[Deedog99]

Someone will hire him quick... he was never the problem in Minnesota.

He's got a crappy aging roster on the edge of a playoff spot. Yeah. Fire the coach. Just so Guerin can hire his buddy Doug Weight.

 

[TerminatorBlue]

Damn they're not even the far behind from a playoff spot with games at hand. Seems like they decided to tank for the rest of the season.

 

[KingsFan7824]

I'm no expert on the Wild but it would seem that the roster is the issue here. I'm not sure if another coach can squeeze any more points out of that team.

Is that even the goal anymore?

 

[rynryn]

the team itself was playing well enough to be at least a middling playoff team. our goaltending was bottom of the barrel. Bruce was doing his job just fine, as he always does in the regular season.

oh no the follow up article by Russo speculated--speculated, let me repeat--that personnel deployment may have been an issue. Sound like some of the veterans (cough) may have been grumbling about reduced ice time while BG might have been questioning Bruce's use of those selfsame vets in key late game situations instead of going with the players who were on their game.

but come on. goaltending torpedoed us this year.

 

[coopooter]

I’d be upset at the job Boudreau did if I was Guerin too. They’re supposed to be in the Laferniere sweepstakes and not the playoff hunt.
I mean he didn’t even give him decent goalering to do the job

 

[Raym11]

coaching has to be the worst job in hockey. Entirely at fault before any others, because its the easiest change for a team to make

 

[Eggtimer]

This makes no sense at all . The wild have been playing very well of late and is overachieving in my opinion and he gets fired ???