The Ottawa Senators hired Guy Boucher to lead the charge back into the postseason.
Less than 24 hours after Bruce Boudreau turned down an offer from the Senators and accepted the head coach position with the Minnesota Wild, Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion announced that they signed Guy Boucher to a 3 year contract as head coach.
Boucher has the highly sought after NHL experience Sens management were looking for in the form of three seasons as head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Eyes On Isles
In those three years, his record was 97-78-20 and he led the Lightning to the Conference Finals in 2011 before losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Boston Bruins. Most recently, Boucher coached SC Bern of the Swiss National League from 2014-2015 and coached Team Canada in the Spengler Cup in 2014 and 2015, winning Gold in 2015.
Some might argue that although Boucher brings plenty of coaching experience, he hasn’t coached in the NHL since 2013 and had limited success, but that didn’t stop Ottawa Senator’s owner Eugene Melnyk from announcing him as their top choice.
Eugene Melnyk on Boucher: "We wanted a great coach and this process yielded our top pick. I couldn’t be happier."
— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) May 8, 2016
Bruce Boudreau wasn’t the top choice?
Despite what Melnyk says, it’s hard to imagine that former Anaheim Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau was not the top choice. Boudreau boasts 10 years of NHL coaching experience and 8 division titles, but has drawn criticism for four consecutive game 7 breakdowns including this season when the heavily favoured Ducks lost to the Nashville Predators. It has also been reported that Boudreau was looking for a minimum four year term and the Senators were looking for a three year term.
That being said, hiring Boucher is an excellent move for the Senators as he brings plenty of experience and a style of coaching that should get results in Ottawa. He’s a hard nosed coach who is not afraid to think outside the box in order to get results and expects 100% from his squad on a nightly basis. Only time will tell if Boucher is the man that will bring postseason glory back to Ottawa.