Bruce Boudreau to return as Vancouver Canucks head coach next season

There it is. The Vancouver Canucks have confirmed Bruce Boudreau will return as head coach for the 2022/23 season.

“We are pleased to see Bruce’s commitment to return to the Canucks next season,” said General Manager Patrik Allvin Friday. “He has done a great job since arriving in Vancouver and we are eager to see the team continue to perform under his leadership as they did during the second half of the season.”

There it is.

Bruce Boudreau will return to the #Canucks bench this coming season.

DETAILS | https://t.co/5v2PBuVNYa pic.twitter.com/89sI499mmx

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) May 13, 2022

Boudreau joined the Canucks organization halfway through this past season, on Dec. 5, 2021. According to the team, he became the third coach in NHL history to win his first seven games with a new club.

The 67-year-old quickly grew in popularity among Canucks fans, who created a dedicated chat of ‘Bruce, there it is’ to the tune of the Tag Team single ‘Whoomp! (There It Is).’

Under Boudreau, the Canucks posted a record of 32-15-10, a 106-point pace over a full 82-game season. They remained in the playoff hunt until the final week of the regular season, ultimately finishing five points out of a wild-card playoff spot despite a dismal 8-15-2 start to the season under Travis Green.

Canucks president of hockey Jim Rutherford stated the deadline for Boudreau and the team to decide whether or not he’d return for his option year was June 1. Boudreau’s camp contacted the Canucks with his decision to return on Friday morning, according to Thomas Drance of Sportsnet The Fan 650’s Canucks Hour.

“My desire has always been to come back to coach this team,” said Boudreau in statement released by the Canucks. “I love the organization, city, fans, and the players. I’m also grateful for the opportunity provided to me by Jim and Patrik to continue building what we started.”

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Speaking to the media on May 3, Rutherford said that Boudreau’s 57-game sample size was not enough for him to commit to a long-term contract.

“We would be willing to have him back under the contract that he agreed to when he came here,” said Rutherford at the Canucks’ season-ending media availability. “That’s certainly not to say that at the end of next year we wouldn’t want him back if he continues to do the job he’s doing.

“I just feel as good a job as he’s done, it wasn’t a full season.”

Despite Boudreau’s success in turning the team around, Rutherford also didn’t shy away from pointing out he wasn’t entirely satisfied with how the Canucks played.

“We’d like to see our team play a more structured game and not depend on our goalie as much,” he said. “But we certainly feel that there are enough good players here to continue to build here in the next year or two toward getting to be a consistent playoff team and a contender.”

Next season will be Boudreau’s 15th as an NHL head coach, having previously manned the bench for the Washington Capitals, Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota Wild before joining the Canucks last season.

In 1,041 career regular-season games, he has a .635 points percentage, which ranks third among coaches who have coached at least 500 games — trailing only Scotty Bowman and Jon Cooper.

Boudreau marked his 1,000th regular season NHL game on Jan. 23, 2022.

With files from the Canadian Press