Matt Sekeres: “Per @DarrenDreger, Jim Rutherford has the authority to fire Bruce Boudreau. He doesn’t need ownership’s permission. Those of us wondering whether the #Canucks Prez was talking to the owner, it appears it was for the coach.”
Sekeres and Price: Darren Dreger on the Sekeres and Price show on the potential firing of Vancouver Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
“I don’t believe there will be ownership interference. If Patrik Allvin and Jim Rutherford decide Bruce’s time in Vancouver is over, it’s over.
I’ve been among the chorus of people who have said, well, maybe the apprehension of making a change is because Vancouver doesn’t want to be on the books for three coaches. Because you got Travis , you got Bruce, then you’re hiring somebody. My understanding is that’s not the case.
What I would say is this. For Bruce Boudreau to go on Vancouver radio, sorry, for Jimmy Rutherford on Vancouver radio and re-iterate in a rather forceful manner I would say, what he has said all along now for several months. He is not doing that publically unless he’s had that very conversation with Bruce Boudreau or Patrik Allvin has had that conversation with Bruce Boudreau.
There’s just not seeing the results. Not just the on-ice results but the practice habits. Again, one of the things I lifted off that interview for me was, Rutherford talking about how they just failed to prepare for a five-game road trip. There was no extra drive. There was no extra attention spent to detail. You’re putting your players in a real difficult spot.
At the end of the day we always say, look, it’s up to the players on the ice to execute. So the blame has to be put there. But if they’re not being coached and the systems aren’t being reinforced and the structure isn’t being reinforced, as Rutherford implies, then that is an organizational problem. Right? Not only is the coach not doing what you want to do or him to do, which you think is going to make the team better, but he’s also not listening to management who keep coming back and saying the same thing over and over again.
Sekeres and Price: Darren Dreger when asked if the Canucks do fire Boudreau, what would the timeline be for them to make a coaching change.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
“I believe what the Vancouver Canucks are considering, or a couple of things. If you make a coaching change, and you promote someone or you hire outside and that individual comes in and the team starts winning through desperation as it did under Bruce a year or so ago. Is that in the best interest of the organization?
And automatically you think of the June draft right, 2023. It’s not just Connor Bedard and Michkov and Fantili. That’s a terrific draft class in 2023. So if you’re not going into some sort of rebuild, how about a renovation. So I think that management of the Vancouver Canucks is toying with that scenario.
But there is also another part to this. If you wait and go deeper into the season, into the New Year, January, February, whenever it is, and you decide, okay, well now lets make the coaching change because we also want the person we’re bringing in to have enough time to create the identity that we want but to also introduce that structure. The systems we keep hearing from Jim Rutherford. So that by the time you get into the start of next season, you’ve hit the ice in full flight.
There also might be a concern from the organization as to the impact that is happening on the young NHL players that are still developing with the Vancouver Canucks by not making the change. A lot of continues to point directly at Bruce Boudreau and coaching.
