Canucks reportedly hire Bruce Boudreau to replace Travis Green

The Vancouver Canucks have reportedly made a coaching change.

Past 5 PM on Sunday evening, Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman Tweeted that Bruce Boudreau will become the next head coach of the Canucks.

At the time of this writing, no word on Travis Green’s firing has been said. As per an official announcement, that also has yet to be determined.

Fans have been calling for change for quite some time now and “Fire Benning” chants were loud and clear at Rogers Arena as the Canucks fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 on Hockey Night in Canada.

A fan also tossed what looks like a Bo Horvat jersey onto the ice.

According to Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV’s Donnie and Dhali-The Team, Jim Benning is still the Canucks general manager for now.

Green was hired by the organization to be the head coach of the AHL’s Utica Comets in 2013. In four seasons with the Comets, Green had a 155-110-33 record with two playoff appearances. The Comets finished first in the AHL’s North Division ins 2014-15 and made it to the Calder Cup Finals. Utica lost in five games to the Manchester Monarchs.

After the Canucks fired Willie Desjardins after the 2016-17 season, Green was promoted to be the head coach of the big club. Vancouver made the playoffs once in Green’s tenure and that was the run in the Edmonton Bubble where  beat the St Louis Blues in round one and then lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round in seven games.

Green leaves the Canucks with a 133-147-34 record. He was signed to a two-year extension last May.

Boudreau is an experienced head coach and brings an playing style that is offensive.

After a playing career mostly in the AHL, Boudreau coached numerous minor league teams and was named the interim head coach of the Washington Capitals in 2007 and eventually was hired as the permanent head coach. After four straight Southeast Division titles in Washington, Boudreau was fired by the Capitals in November of 2011. Two days later, he was hired as head coach of the Anaheim Ducks.

Boudreau continued to find success in Anaheim. He led the Ducks to four straight Pacific Division titles and a trip to Western Conference Final in 2015. The Ducks fired him after they lost to the Nashville Predators in seven games in the first round in 2016. Not long after, he was hired as the head coach of the Minnesota Wild.

The Wild lost in the first round in 2017 and 2018 and finished 7th in the central in 2019. On February 14, 2020, Boudreau was fired by the Wild.

He brings a 567-302-115 record in the regular season and his teams have fallen short in the playoffs.

According to Pierre Lebrun of The Athletic and TSN, it is a two-year contract for Boudreau with the Canucks.

According to Sportsnet 650’s Satiar Shah, Boudreau’s hiring was not management’s decision.

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