Well Bruce Boudreau sure wasn’t on the unemployment line too long.
Just a few days after being relieved of his head coaching duties by the Washington Capitals, Boudreau has already locked up a new head coaching gig, this one with the Anaheim Ducks.
The hire comes seemingly minutes after the Ducks fired their own head coach, Randy Carlyle. Carlyle was one of many NHL coaches on the hot seat early on this season, but his dismissal still comes as something of a surprise.
Carlyle, the team’s head coach since 2005, is the franchise’s leader in wins and winning percentage as far as coaches go. He was in charge when the team won their first, and only, Stanley Cup in 2007, over the Ottawa Senators.
Judging by the result of Wednesday’s game, this was a decision made before the Ducks hit the ice against the Montreal Canadiens. Just 40 minutes after the game, Carlyle was let go and Boudreau was already there to step in. Regardless of the result of the game, which Anaheim won 4-1, Carlyle was a goner.
Boudreau wasn’t expected to be unemployed too long, after being fired by the Capitals, and he really only had two full days of vacation before he swapped coasts to take over this Ducks team, which has drastically underachieved here in the early going.
He takes over a Ducks team that is not unlike the Capitals club that he coached from 2007 until the beginning of this week. He’ll be behind the bench for a squad with a top heavy forward unit and a lack of depth on the blue line. Sound familiar? It will sure be interesting to watch.
Just as Boudreau wasn’t expected to be without work for long, I wouldn’t expect Randy Carlyle to be without some sort of NHL gig for very long. Quite a few clubs could be seeking out head coaches in the coming weeks, and I’d imagine Carlyle’s will be in the mix before long.
At least this takes some of the attention away from the Bobby Ryan trade rumors, at least for a second.
