After Washington Capitals, Bruce Boudreau needs to take Anaheim Ducks deep in playoffs -NHL Update
Bruce Boudreau was a miracle worker for the Washington Capitals for many seasons as he led the Alex Ovechkin run team to a number of Eastern Conference Finals, but unfortunately, never the Stanley Cup Finals.
Not being able to get to the ultimate goal, Washington had to let go of the veteran coach, who found a gig on the other side of the country in California, with Anaheim Ducks, where Boudreau now enjoys the sunny weather as opposed to snow and the extreme
cold.
The Anaheim Ducks had one of the worst seasons in franchise history during the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season and now with Boudreau, they hope to change that in the opposite direction.
"This team, we've just started going where we want to go," Boudreau said in May."If we had started a little bit earlier, anything could have happened. These playoff teams, we competed with all these teams, going tooth and nail."
After changing coaches during the regular season, Bruce Boudreau took over the team but failed to get them into the playoffs, unlike coach Darryl Sutter of Los Angeles Kings, who took them to their first ever Stanley Cup championship.
Another aspect of the team that has been affective by Bruce Boudreau is him being the reason as to why top ranking forward Bobby Ryan is still on the club. Had the youngster not been in contact with a coach like Boudreau, Ryan could have been off the line-up
much earlier than he is now.
"Bruce essentially changed my whole season around in Anaheim," Ryan told the Camden Courier-Post over the summer. "It was going downhill very fast. He came in and changed things around and really spoke to me on a level that I could understand. I loved playing
for him."
New coach Bruce Boudreau certainly has a number of challenges ahead of him like securing Bobby Ryan, utilising the full potential of one of the best squads in the NHL along with making use of legendary right winger, Teemu Selanne, who made a comeback after
nearly going into retirement.
Next season is bound to be exciting for all Anaheim Ducks fans everywhere.
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