Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Boudreau Bound For The Door?

April 28, 2016, 7:49 PM ET [1 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Minnesota Wild GM Chuck Fletcher firedhis long time head coach Mike Yeo after his team collected just 56 points 55 games played this season.

Under Yeo in 2015-16, the Wild performed as a middling team in need of a swift skate to the gluteus maximus. Fletcher hired Torchetti to guide the Wild off the rocks and into the playoffs. In 27 games under Torchetti, the Wild earned 31 points. Torchetti's first order of business to take the bolt cutters to the mental chains that Yeo had shackled his players with. Yeo preached defense, defense, defense to the point where his team was so defensive that it was generating and converting on very few scoring chances in their games under their former coach. Torchetti flipped the script and demamded that his skilled players push the pace with their skating and create chances off of their puck possession. It worked for the most part. Jason Pominville told me earlier this season when the Wild beat Buffalo in Pomniville, that Torchetti being hired was the exact chead coach that the Wild skilled players needed. “Torch” as Pommer called him, asked his skilled guys to cretae chances off the rush by using their speed. He also asked the D to join and support whereas Yeo was all about trapping and imploring to D to stay put on their points to defend against odd man rushes the other way.

You would think that Chuck Fletcher would want to retain Torchetti so as to allow him a full season to implement his system and to finish the work that the had started with the vets and young kids. The Wild went 15-11-0-1 (.574 win %, the highest of his NHL coaching career) in Torchetti's 27 game stint as interim head coach of the Wild.

At his season ending presser on Thursday, Fletcher gave Torchetti the obligatory limp fisted handshake when he said that “Torch” is a “very serious candidate” for the permanent head coaching job. That's code for: “We are going to see if better candidates become available”.








The Wild would be wise to retain Torchetti but it appears that Fletcher still hasn't found the coach that he is looking for.


Enter Bruce Boudreau, who hasn't been fired by the Ducks. Yet.

In one fell swoop, the Anaheim Ducks went from being a Stanley Cup contender to a first round knockout casualty.

It's a fait accompli that “Gabby” be canned by the Ducks, right?

How can a head coach with an 0-4 record in Game 7s the past four seasons in Anaheim, and, 1-6 record lifetime Game 7 be brought back to coach the same group of players that he had failed with so many times before?

With Paul MacLean, Trent Yawney, and Marc Crawford waiting in the wings to replace Boudreau were he to be terminated, it's time for the players to hear a fresh voice in the room. Personally, I like Boudreau and I think that he is an excellent hockey coach. The problem with his coaching tenures in Washington and Anaheim was that when his star players went ice cold and were no-shows for the playoffs, then he would take the heat for their failures. Boudreau doesn't lace up his old Lange's and block shots. He doesn't clear the crease. He doesn't knock alley oop passes down from out of mid air before the attacking forward beats two defensemen at the blue line. He doesn't light the lamp nor score power play goals when his team needs him to. It's not Boudreau's job to play the games. That falls on the shoulders of his players, like Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, or back in the day Alex Ovechkin and Mike Green. Perry was held scoreless by Pekka Rinne, Shea Weber and the Preds. He collected only 4 assists in 7 playoff games. That's nowhere near good enough to compete and win in the Wild West. Getzlaf had just 2 goals in seven games. Neither Perry nor Getzlaf lit the lamp in Game 7. Why not? They get paid the big bucks and drive the tricked-out exotic whips to the rink. They are the snipers, the producers and the leaders.They are supposed to be the go-to-guys. So then, where were Perry and Getzlaf in the Nashville series. Did they think that they could flip the magic switch like they had from December 27 until the end of the regular season when they had the best record in the NHL? Did Perry and Getzlaf think that all they had to do was show up and throttle the Preds in Game 7? Last time I checked, Perry and Getzlaf were the engines that drive the Ducks' train. Perry and Getzlaf have had a front row seat for the four Game 7 failures the past four seasons. Why is it that their names are never mentioned in trade talks? The Ducks win regular season games, tons of regular season games with them leading the charge. However, the dynamic duo seemingly shrinks in the playoffs. That's not what you want from the faces of the franchise. You want them to rise up and represent. You demand that they be your best players when the going gets tough. Look at John Tavares, Jamie Benn, Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns, Braden Holtby, Alex Ovechkin, Nikita Kucherov and Sid Crosby,

The best players up their game when the stakes get higher and the pressure multiples.

Why don't Perry and Getzlaf play to that same standard?

Let's face it. It's so much easier to fire and replace the head coach than it is to fire several multi-millionaire players who are on long term contracts.

Or is it?

Perry, a former 50 goal man who has a sick suite of skills and is tougher than rawhide. The London Knights alum is earning $8.625M AAV for the next four seasons.

Getzlaf is the multi-faceted leader who does it all and does it well, is earning $8.25M AAV for the next four seasons.

Ducks GM Bob Murray may want to consider trading Perry, 30, now in exchange for building blocks for the present and immediate future. Bob Murray has only 5 picks in the 2016 NHL Draft. Murray holds only his 1st, 3rd, 2-4ths, and his 7th rounders. He doesn't have 2nd, 5th and 6th round picks yet.

Perry has been added to Team Canada's roster for the IIHF World Championships in Russia which begins next week. He obviously isn't satisfied with going off to his lake home in the Muskokas with the biter taste of first round defeat in his mouth. I commend him for wanting to show that he still has the passion and desire to compete for his country after suffering through four bitter Game 7 losses in the past four seasons.

I'm all for Boudreau getting fired. Not because he is a terrible coach and the Game 7 failures are entirely his fault.

Instead, I don't want to see the poor guy suffer a serious health catastrophe. I'm being serious when I say that I worry about Boudreau. Watching his post Game 7 presser, one got the sense that BB's blood pressure was elevated to 190/100. The guy's head was bright red, his eyes blood shot. His mouth dry. He looked like his world had just fallen to the ground. I had seen that look before. It was on December 17 in Buffalo. The Ducks flew into Buffalo on broken wings. They were the 30th place team in the NHL with an 11-13-5 record. Boudreau's job was in serious, serious jeopardy. The Ducks lost to Buffalo 3-0 that night and in his postgame presser, Boudreau's eyes were glassy and his face was flush. The cadence of his words was measured. He spoke from the heart.

The Ducks had played only once in 10 days leading into tonight's game, the first of a four-game road trip that continues on Saturday against the New Jersey Devils.

Anaheim put 44 shots on Sabres goaltender Chad Johnson, who recorded his fourth NHL shutout.

How could a team loaded with so many gifted offensive players be so bad? Ryan Getzlaf entered that game with zero goals on the season. It was bad news any way you sliced it.
An exhausted looking Boudreau said that his best players were not playing like his best players. The long layoff was supposed to re-energize and refocus his team. Instead, it put them in a deep sleep.



"You keep going," said Boudreau, looking ahead to the next game which was two nights later in New Jersey. "That’s the only thing you can do”.

Boudreau is a passionate guy and he shoots it straight. He cares a ton for his players, his assistant coaches, GM and owners. He appreciates the fans and wants to win badly for them. I think he owes it to himself and his family to take a deep breath and family to step away from the Anaheim Ducks and to pursue a new NHL challenge.

Boudreau will have to keep going.

Like say for example, to the Minnesota Wild.






____________________________________________________________________________

My friend in hockey, Elliotte Friedman, tweeted out this seating grid for this Saturday night's NHL Draft Lottery which will be held in Toronto.






The draft lottery room will be occupied by:

Kevin Cheveldayoff (Jets), Anthony Leblanc (Coyotes), Russ Brandon (Sabres), Marc Bergevin (Canadiens), Alan Hepple (Avalanche), Pierre Dorion (Senators), Ron Francis (Hurricanes), Don Sweeney (Bruins), Brendan Shanahan (Leafs), Peter Chiarelli (Oilers), Trevor Linden (Canucks), John Davidson (Blue Jackets), Brian Burke (Flames).
Join the Discussion: » 1 Comments » Post New Comment
More from GARTH'S CORNER
» Hailing Taxis
» He With The Gold Makes The Rules
» Sedentary Seven
» The Sedentary Seven
» GadZuccs