VANCOUVER – It is not unheard of during games that fans of the Vancouver Canucks chant the name of the coach. But usually, it’s when they want him fired.
“Bruce, there it is!” has become a kind of victory song at Rogers Arena since Bruce Boudreau arrived in December and orchestrated one of the most remarkable mid-season turnarounds in franchise history, even if the Canucks’ resurrection under the 67-year-old coach will likely still not get them to the National Hockey League playoffs next month.
Boudreau said early on that he didn’t like the chant because it makes it seem like the game is about the coach, when it’s really about the players.
He also joked after it occurred during his first game in Vancouver, a 4-0 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Dec. 6, that if the Canucks lose, the chant will be “Bruce, there he goes.”
Makes you wonder what fans might really say if the organization opts out of its contract with the coach whose record with the Canucks improved to 26-13-8 when the team decisively swept back-to-back games this week in Las Vegas and Arizona.
A scaled-down version of “Bruce, there it is!” was clearly audible among Canucks fans at T-Mobile arena during Wednesday’s 5-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights. And gleeful support for a Vancouver coach on the road is unprecedented.
So far, Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin and president Jim Rutherford have not been swept up in Boudreau-mania, responding when asked that, essentially, Boudreau is doing a good job and the head coach will be reviewed after the season.
With an option-year available to the Canucks on the two-year contract Boudreau signed with managing owner Francesco Aquilini in December – a few days before Rutherford was hired – management has no more pressure to deal with Boudreau now than with, say, J.T. Miller, the impact forward who has another season remaining on his contract.
But the understated support for Boudreau, in a market where nearly every utterance is parsed and solicited for interpretation, has contributed to a growing feeling that Rutherford and Allvin may have someone else in mind to coach the Canucks next year.
The issue has become such a regular talking point on radio and social media that Boudreau was queried about it during a press conference last week.
“I think I’ve done an okay job,” Boudreau said when asked if he’d like a contract extension. “It’s a tough question. I mean, I want to coach forever, and I really like Vancouver. I guess that sort of answers the question.”
But management’s appreciation of Boudreau is greater than it appears.
Asked in Las Vegas about Boudreau, Allvin told Sportsnet he feels badly his coach is hearing conjecture that he may be replaced.
“I don’t know where this starts,” Allvin said. “Bruce has done a good job up to this point. We’re still in it here and every game is important, and he’s preparing the team. I like the communication I have with Bruce, as well.”
What will be the process in deciding Boudreau’s future?
“We’ll see where we are after these (final) games, and then, obviously, we will be evaluating,” Allvin said. “But for me, Bruce has done a great job since he got here to Vancouver.”
Asked if this means there’s still a real possibility that Boudreau will coach the Canucks next season and beyond, Allvin said: “Absolutely. Absolutely.”
Yes, he said it twice.
On merit, Boudreau has not only earned the second year of his contract, but deserves an extension so he isn’t mired in the same drama his predecessor, Travis Green, endured last season when he was in the final year of his deal and coached every game as if his livelihood was at stake.
The Canucks’ .638 winning percentage since Boudreau replaced Green is fourth-best in the Western Conference, tied with the Calgary Flames.
The coach has orchestrated a 1.3 goals-per-game turnaround: goals-for have…
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