Bruce Boudreau: Patron Saint of Second Chances

[JR]

This is a good story on the coach of the Washington Capitals and I didn't want it go get buried in the NHL Running Ghetto.

http://www.thestar.com/article/613884

One of the good guys and as Double J would point out (except this is my thread ), guy had a bit part in Slap Shot.

The Leafs basically buried him in the minors because in the old pre-free agency days, they could.

It was also the party-hardy '70s, Boudreau notes. And back then the players partook. "After practice you'd go out and have lunch with the Leafs. And lunches lasted an awful lot longer than they do now. I was trying so hard to be everybody's friend that I didn't sometimes realize what I had to do."

Boudreau's very best friend – former Leaf and now Atlanta coach John Anderson – has another version. "The Leafs buried Bruce Boudreau. They basically ate him. He was easily good enough to play in the NHL, but there was no such thing as free agency back then. The teams had all the power and the players had none.

"So rather than let Boudreau make another team better, the Leafs would tuck him away, and maybe use him down the road. It wasn't just the Leafs. All the teams did this.."

Never forgot where he came from.

 

[Flying Headbutt]

Boudreau has done an amazing job as a coach in Washington. He's no bull****, but not an asshole either. And he does a pretty good job in the commercials of this one particular Mercedes dealer.

This one is my favorite.

 

[JR]

OK, but nothing but beats this Max Talbot (Penguins) car commercial for cheesiness.

 

[Flying Headbutt]

Superstar treatment!

 

[Double J]

All he ever did when the Leafs called him up was score. Apparently his work ethic wasn't the greatest, but he sure as hell wasn't the only Leaf of the era who coasted on talent.....Ian Turnbull, anyone?

And he's all over the first Chiefs-Presidents game in Slap Shot, wearing No. 7 for Hyannisport.

 

[JR]

What I found amazing last year was how quickly all the players rallied around his message.

Elliotte Friedman did a great piece on him in Inside Hockey last season (part of the HNIC pre-game show)

Just looked for it on the CBC website but couldn't find it.

 

[JR]

And he's all over the first Chiefs-Presidents game in Slap Shot, wearing No. 7 for Hyannisport.

You never let us down, Double J.

Hey, I hear you're getting maybe 10 cm of snow tomorrow.

Vive Grey and Bruce counties!

 

[Double J]

That's the forecast.....along with blowing snow tomorrow night, and more flurries on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Here's hoping they're wrong. :-\

 

[JR]

That's the forecast.....along with blowing snow tomorrow night, and more flurries on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Here's hoping they're wrong. :-\

CITV TV said it was so and they never sensationalize anything,including the ten people there who have the weather beat.

Seriously, have you seen that many " meteorologists" on one TV station?

Percy Saltzman would not be amused.

 

[crimsonace]

When Boudreau was named Caps coach, the only thing I could remember is getting a bit worried every time WOWO's Bob Chase said "Boudreau with the puck, on a rush" ... that, and it was about the only French name Chase could pronounce correctly .

That, and it reminded me that the Fort Wayne Komets sucked . (or at least that's what we thought at the other end of I-69).

 

[Double J]

When Boudreau was named Caps coach, the only thing I could remember is getting a bit worried every time WOWO's Bob Chase said "Boudreau with the puck, on a rush" ... that, and it was about the only French name Chase could pronounce correctly .

That, and it reminded me that the Fort Wayne Komets sucked . (or at least that's what we thought at the other end of I-69).

Huh-huh-huh.....you said you 69....huh-huh-huh....huh-huh....

 

[Del_B_Vista]

I covered Boudreau his last season coaching in the ECHL and have said before on SJ he was great to deal with.

 

[JR]

I covered Boudreau his last season coaching in the ECHL and have said before on SJ he was great to deal with.

Anecdotes?

 

[bostonbred]

I covered Boudreau his last season coaching in the ECHL and have said before on SJ he was great to deal with.

I've interviewed him a few times as well, and he was always a nice guy.

 

[Del_B_Vista]

I covered Boudreau his last season coaching in the ECHL and have said before on SJ he was great to deal with.

Anecdotes?

I was obviously way down the hockey/journalism/hockey journalism food chain, but he still answers the phone or returns messages when I call. In Biloxi, Miss., I was a local guy hired to cover the team largely because I'd played hockey when I was a kid. OK, six months or so in Birmingham, Ala., didn't make me Gordie Howe, but I'd been a fan since and had been able to learn more when the sport got on ESPN. He was always willing to address the questions, regardless of how ridiculous they might have seemed.

On the ice, the team got off to a bit of a slow start, but Boudreau made a trade for a center who was good, but not great, and that sparked the team. They won something like 24 of 28 games after that, including a winning four games in four nights in four different buildings. I think it was Lafayette, La.; Biloxi; Pensacola, Fla.; and Tallahassee, Fla. They'd started that swing a bit depleted with injuries, but the last night they got a couple more and finished with something like 10 skaters. Guys were coming off the ice, barely sitting down and having to jump right back over the boards. Those guys woulda skated another game that night for him.

In the playoffs, they wound up having to that a couple times. They won a triple-OT game to clinch the first round, won a triple-OT game in the next round that had the goalie puking in the crease in OT and needing IVs aftter, and erased a 3-1 finals series deficit by winning three straight. They trailed 3-1 in the third period, tied it in the final minute, then won in double overtime. I'll never forget Boudreau running around the ice with his slobby white dress shirt flapping all over the place looking to hug guys.

 

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

On the ice, the team got off to a bit of a slow start, but Boudreau made a trade for a center who was good, but not great, and that sparked the team. They won something like 24 of 28 games after that, including a winning four games in four nights in four different buildings. I think it was Lafayette, La.; Biloxi; Pensacola, Fla.; and Tallahassee, Fla. They'd started that swing a bit depleted with injuries, but the last night they got a couple more and finished with something like 10 skaters. Guys were coming off the ice, barely sitting down and having to jump right back over the boards. Those guys woulda skated another game that night for him.

In the playoffs, they wound up having to that a couple times. They won a triple-OT game to clinch the first round, won a triple-OT game in the next round that had the goalie puking in the crease in OT and needing IVs aftter, and erased a 3-1 finals series deficit by winning three straight. They trailed 3-1 in the third period, tied it in the final minute, then won in double overtime. I'll never forget Boudreau running around the ice with his slobby white dress shirt flapping all over the place looking to hug guys.

He definitely did a lot with talent that was good, but certainly not great (even for the ECHL) that year.

The thing I'll always remember about Gabby is that what was left of his hair at the time was a little longer on the sides and in the back than it is today, and after a particularly emotional game (which the Sea Wolves' games against the team I covered often were) he used to look a lot like George Costanza with this hair and clothes all desheveled.

 

[JR]

Didn't find EF's original piece on Boudreau but I did find this one: interviews with Boudreau and good friend and former Leafs teammate John Anderson.

 

[blueview]

Boudreau was buried in the minors for so long, but some of his AHL teams, on paper, were absolutely atrocious. He knew how to get the best out of those players on the ice.

The Max Talbot commercials are hysterical, esp. if you know his personality - very engaging, humorous and self-deprecating. But if Boudreau ever does this kind of commercial, God freaking help him.