Rumor: Russo: Boudreau, Leafs, “finally” talking about As. Coach Job

[Cor]

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[BertCorbeau]

I'd love it. He'd be a nice insurance policy if Keefe doesn't work out too.

 

[Blue Nate]

Brucey!

 

[NiL8r87]

I'd love to have Boudreau but I also feel like it could send a bad message to what's still a rookie head coach, especially since I'm sure Boudreau would love to be HC here.

 

[Nizdizzle]

I'd love to have Boudreau but I also feel like it could send a bad message to what's still a rookie head coach, especially since I'm sure Boudreau would love to be HC here.

Knowing how Dubas operates, I'm sure he'll have a long chat with Keefe to see if he is onboard and comfortable with the situation. Say what you will about Dubas, but I have full confidence that he would make sure the coaching staff was onboard before doing anything like this.

 

[LeafsOHLRangers98]

I'd love to have Boudreau but I also feel like it could send a bad message to what's still a rookie head coach, especially since I'm sure Boudreau would love to be HC here.

He's not a rookie anymore. Experienced guys on the bench are always a good thing but this team played well under Keefe with half a defense and terrible goaltending. If we upgrade the back end at all we should be one of the top teams in the east.

 

[Punch Drunk Loov]

I actually know nothing about his coaching characteristics. Anyone want to shed light on me who tunes out many fine details?

 

[7even]

I'd love to have Boudreau but I also feel like it could send a bad message to what's still a rookie head coach, especially since I'm sure Boudreau would love to be HC here.

You would have to be pretty incompetent to have a guy with Boudreau's resume and gestalt come on board and see it as threatening and not a great way to mine some knowledge.

 

[Nizdizzle]

I actually know nothing about his coaching characteristics. Anyone want to shed light on me who tunes out many fine details?

High temp offense, suspect defense a lot of times. Welcomes creativity and has a knack for getting more out of an untalented roster (not really seeing that as an issue in TO, although we could certainly use "more" from a few players).

"…I’ve always felt, when I was a player, that if I was ever going to be a coach, I was going to be an aggressive coach and try to win the game instead of trying to not lose the game…when you have [Alex] Ovechkin, [Nicklas] Backstrom, [Sergei] Federov and [Mike] Green — you can go down the list — you’re going to score. We just wanted to make sure we were playing in the other team’s zone more than we were playing in our zone. So we took chances in their zone. We got pucks at the net, and everybody met at the net. And we scored a lot of goals. But when you have Alex scoring 50 and 60 goals every year, it’s not hard."

- Bruce Boudreau

- Micheal Scott​

I think there are a lot of similarities between the current Leafs and the Boudreau Caps from some years ago. Even as an assistant coach, I think he has a lot to offer Keefe and our group. As seen in the quote above, his mentality seems to fit pretty well with what Keefe and Dubas seem to like.

 

[Gallagbi]

I'd love it. He'd be a nice insurance policy if Keefe doesn't work out too.

Is it an insurance policy though? The quote basically says he leaves for any head coaching job

 

[Cor]

Boudreau isn’t much different than Hakstol being on the bench.

 

[BAM]

This would be a great hiring. I have full faith in Keefe but having BB on board too will do wonders for this team's offence.

 

[Nooodles]

I still don't get the love towards Bruce.

What did he achieve with that powerhouse Caps again?

 

[Tak7]

Not sure why it's "finally" - Bruce was always going to check on the coaching market first before he considered taking a step back into an assistant role.

I still don't get the love towards Bruce.

What did he achieve with that powerhouse Caps again?

Veteran coach who loves the Leafs. Would be a nice voice for Keefe to bounce ideas off of.

 

[Merrrlin]

I'd love to have Boudreau but I also feel like it could send a bad message to what's still a rookie head coach, especially since I'm sure Boudreau would love to be HC here.

Nothing wrong with pressure to perform at this level. This is the NHL, there is no higher league, there are always 4-5 qualified people waiting for you to fail.

 

[BAM]

I still don't get the love towards Bruce.

What did he achieve with that powerhouse Caps again?

Why are you acting like it didn't take a long time after he left for them to even win a cup?

Hockey is the sport with the most parity out of the big 4. Upsets happen far more often. A hot goalie can win you a series by himself. That never happens in other sports.

In MLB you might face an ace or a hot pitcher at most twice in a 5 game series, maybe 3 times in a 7 games series. Even the greatest hitter you only have to worry about 3/4 times a game and if there's nobody on base ahead of them there's only so much they can do.

In NBA, superstar players play so much that you'll almost never have a 1-8 upset. Just the talent disparity between the two rosters makes it almost impossible let alone the fact that the top end guy of a 1 seed is tiers above the top end guy of an 8 seed.

 

[Buds17]

Boudreau isn’t much different than Hakstol being on the bench.

Boudreau has a significant advantage in games coached at the NHL level. He is also older, so maybe that is to be expected. I don't know which of the two would be the more likely to receive another opportunity at a head coaching job. With all of that said, I'd be in favour of bringing in Boudreau as an assistant.

 

[Mess]

Having some much needed coaching experience behind the bench can only be seen as a good thing.

Keefe really struggled in the play-in round showing his inexperience and being significantly out-coached by Torts, not knowing how to deal with CBJ aggressive 2 man press forecheck, and neutral zone trap system and structured defense first system as the Leafs kept getting shutout and failing to qualify for the playoffs under his direction, despite being the favourites and having much more offensive talent at his disposal.

Bruce Boudreau could really help in this area, filling a real need for the coaching staff and as mentioned in the tweet if the Leafs get off to a poor start next year the Leafs could be grooming their next head coach in house getting to know the player personnel in advance and making the transition more seamless.

So despite BB being a good addition should it happen, it could be a concern on how the chemistry between Boudreau and Keefe would play out with the potential that Sheldon would be looking over his shoulder to his assistant as his potential replacement.

 

[stickty111]

Great to hear. He has proven to run a good PP when he has talent, and can offer Keefe some system info as well.

 

[stickty111]

Knowing how Dubas operates, I'm sure he'll have a long chat with Keefe to see if he is onboard and comfortable with the situation. Say what you will about Dubas, but I have full confidence that he would make sure the coaching staff was onboard before doing anything like this.

Mirtle mentioned Keefe is involved with the search for the position so he will be onboard.

 

[weems]

If Keefe is onboard with this and it wont hurt his ego, this could actually be terrific for him.

Like it or not Keefe is going to be biased to Kyle seeing they basically came up the ranks together.

It will be good to have a seasoned coach whose experienced lots of winning in this league be able to tell him when something isnt working even if the analytics dept is pushing it.

If Bruce is truly just coming here because he loves the team and understands what an assistant coachs role is, He'll be a fantastic add.

 

[BoredBrandonPridham]

I don't see any reason to think it is Dubas is leading the search and hire process for an assistant coach, and not Keefe leading it.

 

[Coachcorner]

Having some much needed coaching experience behind the bench can only be seen as a good thing.

Keefe really struggled in the play-in round showing his inexperience and being significantly out-coached by Torts, not knowing how to deal with CBJ aggressive 2 man press forecheck, and neutral zone trap system and structured defense first system as the Leafs kept getting shutout and failing to qualify for the playoffs under his direction, despite being the favourites and having much more offensive talent at his disposal.

Bruce Boudreau could really help in this area, filling a real need for the coaching staff and as mentioned in the tweet if the Leafs get off to a poor start next year the Leafs could be grooming their next head coach in house getting to know the player personnel in advance and making the transition more seamless.

So despite BB being a good addition should it happen, it could be a concern on how the chemistry between Boudreau and Keefe would play out with the potential that Sheldon would be looking over his shoulder to his assistant as his potential replacement.

I surely hope they hire him faster and harder than trump fired people on the apprentice. Would be a fantastic help to us. And also like you wrote in the the other thread, the Leafs should pay the biggest money to everybody involved and won't affect to the cap. We are the most powerful and most richest club in the ice hockey world. With the most fans. We got so much money and dollar we could pay up our whole fan base quite too if we wanted.

 

[Papi 4 Hart]

I still don't get the love towards Bruce.

What did he achieve with that powerhouse Caps again?

The President's Trophy lol.

 

[Menzinger]

High temp offense, suspect defense a lot of times. Welcomes creativity and has a knack for getting more out of an untalented roster (not really seeing that as an issue in TO, although we could certainly use "more" from a few players).

"…I’ve always felt, when I was a player, that if I was ever going to be a coach, I was going to be an aggressive coach and try to win the game instead of trying to not lose the game…when you have [Alex] Ovechkin, [Nicklas] Backstrom, [Sergei] Federov and [Mike] Green — you can go down the list — you’re going to score. We just wanted to make sure we were playing in the other team’s zone more than we were playing in our zone. So we took chances in their zone. We got pucks at the net, and everybody met at the net. And we scored a lot of goals. But when you have Alex scoring 50 and 60 goals every year, it’s not hard."

- Bruce Boudreau

- Micheal Scott​

I think there are a lot of similarities between the current Leafs and the Boudreau Caps from some years ago. Even as an assistant coach, I think he has a lot to offer Keefe and our group. As seen in the quote above, his mentality seems to fit pretty well with what Keefe and Dubas seem to like.

Though that's not how he was with the Wild, where defense was the prime focus, especially limiting high danger scoring chances against.

He molds his systems it seems to the tools he has in front of him.

He's definitely a possession guy (likes analytics too). I think he'd be a good fit with Dubas/the Leafs