Per the press release:ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have relieved Glen Hanlon of his coaching duties and named Bruce Boudreau the team’s interim head coach, vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today.
Boudreau, 52, has coached championship teams in the American Hockey League (AHL) and the ECHL and is in his third year as the head coach of the Hershey Bears, Washington’s AHL affiliate. He led the team to the Eastern Conference championship and the Calder Cup finals in each of his first two years in Hershey, winning the Calder Cup in 2006. Boudreau has compiled a 103-45-11-16 record with the Bears (a .666 winning percentage), including an AHL-best 51-17-6-6 record (.713) last season. Seven current members of the Capitals played for Boudreau with the Bears.
Boudreau becomes the 14th coach in Washington Capitals history. He will make his debut behind the Capitals’ bench tomorrow at Philadelphia (1 p.m., Comcast SportsNet, Talk Radio 3WT: 107.7 FM, 1500 AM, 820 AM).
Boudreau is in his ninth season as an AHL head coach, having compiled a 340-216-56-43 career record. He spent four years with the Manchester Monarchs and two years with the Lowell Lock Monsters before joining the Bears. Before ascending to the AHL, he was the head coach and director of hockey operations for the Mississippi Sea Wolves (ECHL), where he won the 1999 Kelly Cup championship.
After making his head-coaching debut in the Colonial Hockey League with the Muskegon Fury in 1992-93, Boudreau took over the Fort Wayne Komets of the International Hockey League (IHL) in 1993-94. The Komets advanced to the Turner Cup finals his first season at the controls, and Boudreau was named the 1993-94 IHL coach of the year.
Boudreau played parts of eight seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Blackhawks, recording 70 points in 141 NHL games. A third-round pick of the Leafs in the 1975 NHL draft, Boudreau enjoyed one of the best seasons ever by a Canadian junior player during 1974-75. He picked up 165 points for the Toronto Marlboros, a Canadian Hockey League record until Wayne Gretzky surpassed the mark during the 1977-78 season.
An outstanding AHL player, Boudreau ranks 11th all-time in scoring in league history with 316 goals and 799 points. No AHL player in the 1980s notched more points than Boudreau, as he played for the New Brunswick Hawks, Baltimore Skipjacks, Nova Scotia Oilers, Springfield Indians and Newmarket Saints during that time. He won the 1987-88 John B. Sollenberger Trophy for leading the league in scoring, and was also a member of the 1992 Calder Cup champion Adirondack Red Wings.
No timetable has been set for naming a head coach beyond Boudreau’s interim status. The rest of the Capitals coaching staff will remain in place.
9 comments:
How long until GMGM goes too? He's the one bringing in these coaches, isn't he?
Well, it should be pretty clear before long whether or not coaching had anything to do with why the Caps are where they are. And if it didn't...
*shrug*
I'm assuming we're stuck with GMGM for at least this year- while we see what our new coach can do.
Happy "Tanks"giving to all the Caps Fans, Players, and new coaches out there
Yeah, happy thanksgiving Glen... damn
rage,
McPhee's role with regard to the coaches is questionable to me. I'd always had the impression Leonsis was the one who wanted Cassidy, and the hiring of Hanlon was good at the time b/c he did a heck of job during the rebuilding stage. The problem was sticking with him too long this year.
Excellent. Hope Hanlon the best, but I would rather see my Cappies succeed.
Hanlon is a class act and like Sutherby I wish him well. He was the right coach the last three years and it's a shame, that for whatever reason, the chemistry just wasn't working this year. Best of luck GH. Over at Tariq's blog it looks like some things will at least change and hopefully that will be the spark that returns the Caps to the magic of games 1, 2, & 3 this season. I have more musings on my own blog at:
http://markb2260.blogspot.com/
Happy Thanksgiving and LETS GO CAPS
if you remember, usually frustrated caps fan, game three wasnt very magical at all, but they did win somehow, if thats what you mean.
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