Bruce Boudreau

**Bruce Boudreau** (born Bruce Allan Boudreau on January 9, 1955 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian former professional hockey player who played in the NHL for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Chicago Blackhawks. He is also the former head coach of the Washington Capitals, Anaheim Ducks and the Minnesota Wild.

Boudreau was drafted 42nd overall in the 1975 NHL Entry Draft by the Maple Leafs.

## Playing Career

As a youth, Bruce played in the 1967 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Toronto George Bell minor ice hockey team. While his major professional 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.

His junior career was spent with the Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA), for which he averaged over 100 points a season. He scored 165 points in his final season in juniors, adding 44 points in 27 games en route to captaining the Marlies to a Memorial Cup championship. He was awarded the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy as the top goal scorer for the 1974–75 OMJHL season.

After being drafted in the third round (42nd overall) by the Toronto Maple Leafs, Bruce could not agree with Toronto on a contract and joined the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the WHA, making his professional debut in 1975. He played a single season for the Fighting Saints, scoring 3 goals and 6 assists over 30 games.

Spending most of the early part of his professional career with Maple Leaf farm teams in Dallas, New Brunswick and St. Catharines, he also spent significant time playing for the Springfield Indians (for whom he won his only scoring championship in 1988), the Fort Wayne Komets and the Nova Scotia Oilers.

Bruce's most significant NHL time came in 1981, when as an injury replacement he scored 10 goals and 14 assists in only 39 games. He played eight seasons in the NHL overall, all but the last (a seven-game stint for the Chicago Black Hawks in 1986) for the Maple Leafs, scoring 28 goals and 42 assists in 141 games.

Bruce remained a minor league star and top scorer right through his final season in 1992. His final game came in Springfield where he had been signed by the Adirondack Red Wings as an emergency injury replacement during their first round Calder Cup playoff series against the Indians.

## Coaching Career

After his playing days were over, Bruce began a highly successful coaching career. In the minor leagues where he has coached the Muskegon Fury, Fort Wayne Komets, Mississippi Sea Wolves, Lowell Lock Monsters, Manchester Monarchs, and Hershey Bears.

Under his leadership, the Bears won the 2006 AHL Calder Cup championship. The Bears made it all the way back to the Calder Cup finals under him again in 2007, ultimately falling to the Hamilton Bulldogs.

Previously, Bruce coached the Mississippi Sea Wolves to the ECHL Championship in 1999, and also led the Fort Wayne Komets to the IHL Finals in 1994. Boudreau was awarded the Commissioner's Trophy as coach of the 1993–94 Komets.

He was named interim head coach of the NHL's Washington Capitals on November 22, 2007 and later their permanent coach on December 26, 2007. He compiled a 37–17–7 rookie coaching record with a team that was 6–14–1 when he inherited it.

Under his leadership, the 2007–08 Capitals won their first Southeast Division title in seven years and made the playoffs for the first time in five years. He also won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's best coach in 2008.

He 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, he 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 ever Presidents' Trophy.

However, the Capitals' success in the regular season 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. Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin both vastly underperformed during the stretch. These and other factors led to Boudreau's firing on November 28, 2011, despite Bruce having reached 200 regular season wins faster than any coach in the modern NHL era.

Bruce was replaced by former Capitals captain and then-London Knights head coach Dale Hunter; two days later, the Anaheim Ducks hired him to replace the recently fired Randy Carlyle as their head coach, becoming the fastest coach to be hired after being fired in NHL history.

On April 29, 2016, he 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 division titles in his four full seasons in Anaheim.

On May 7, 2016, Bruce was hired by the Minnesota Wild as their new head coach, leading the Wild to a successful regular season finishing 2nd in the Central Division (earning home ice advantage for round 1), but they fell apart in March 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.

With the latest early round knock-out of a team that shined during the regular season, Bruce has cemented his reputation as a coach who has failed to achieve success in the Stanley Cup playoffs. During his fourth season with the Wild, he was fired on February 14, 2020.

## Accolades

* Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy – 1974–75 OMJHL season, Toronto Marlboros
* John B. Sollenberger Trophy – 1987–88 AHL season, Springfield Indians
* Memorial Cup and J. Ross Robertson Cup with the 1974–75 Toronto Marlboros

**Records** (Springfield Indians)

* Assists in a season: 74, 1987–1988
* Points in a season: 116, 1987–1988

## Personal Life

Bruce is the son of Norman Boudreau and Theresa Roy. He attended Nelson A. Boylen Collegiate Institute in the 1970s. He is known for his talkative personality, earning him the nickname "Gabby."

In 2009, he released his memoir, "Gabby: Confessions of a Hockey Lifer." As of May 2016, he has the second highest winning percentage in NHL history for a coach who has coached at least 100 games.