Bruce Allan Boudreau ( ; born January 9, 1955) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He previously served as head coach of the Washington Capitals, Anaheim Ducks, Minnesota Wild, and Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). As a player, Boudreau played professionally for 20 seasons, and was a third round pick (42nd overall) of the Toronto Maple Leafs at the 1975 NHL amateur draft. He played 141 games in the NHL with the Maple Leafs and Chicago Black Hawks, and 30 games in the World Hockey Association (WHA) with the Minnesota Fighting Saints. Boudreau played most of his career in the American Hockey League (AHL) for various teams where he was known for his goals and point-scoring abilities, recording 316 goals and 483 assists for 799 points in 634 games.
After his playing career Boudreau went into coaching and won the Jack Adams Award for the NHL's most outstanding head coach in the 2007–08 NHL season during his tenure with the Capitals. Boudreau is the owner of two junior ice hockey teams, Minnesota Blue Ox and Hershey Cubs, in the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL).
As of 2021, Boudreau has the second-highest winning percentage in NHL history for a coach who has coached at least 900 games.
Early life Boudreau was born in North York, Toronto, Ontario, the son of Norman Boudreau and Theresa Roy. As a youth, he played in the 1967 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Toronto George Bell minor ice hockey team. He attended Nelson A. Boylen Collegiate Institute in the 1970s.
Playing career
Boudreau's junior career was spent with the Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA), for which he averaged over 100 points a season. He scored 165 points in his final season in juniors, adding 44 points in 27 games en route to captaining the Marlies to a Memorial Cup championship. He was awarded the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy as the top goal scorer for the 1974–75 OMJHL season.
Boudreau played professional ice hockey for 17 seasons. While his major career was modest, he had a long career in the minor leagues, and was one of the most prolific minor league scorers of all time, largely in the American Hockey League (AHL).
After being drafted to the NHL in the third round, 42nd overall, of the 1975 NHL amateur draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs, Boudreau could not agree with Toronto on a contract and joined the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the World Hockey Association (WHA), making his professional debut in 1975. He played a single season for the Fighting Saints, recording three goals and six assists over 30 games. He spent half that season in the minors, with the Johnstown Jets of the North American Hockey League (NAHL).
Boudreau signed with the Maple Leafs for the 1976–77 season. He spent most of the first nine seasons of his career with the Maple Leafs playing with their farm teams – Central Hockey League (CHL) teams Dallas Black Hawks and Cincinnati Tigers, and AHL teams New Brunswick Hawks and St. Catharines Saints. Later in his career, Boudreau signed with the NHL's Chicago Black Hawks, playing two seasons with their AHL farm team Springfield Indians (with whom he won his only league scoring championship in the 1987–88 AHL season). He later played with the International Hockey League's (IHL) Fort Wayne Komets and the AHL's Nova Scotia Oilers.
Boudreau played parts of eight seasons in the NHL, all but the last – a seven-game stint for the Chicago Black Hawks in the 1985–86 season – for the Maple Leafs. His most significant NHL time came in 1980–81; called up as an injury replacement with the Maple Leafs, he recorded 10 goals and 14 assists in only 39 games. During his time in the NHL, Boudreau recorded 28 goals and 42 assists in 141 games.
He continued on as a minor league star and top scorer right through his final 1991–92 AHL season. His final game came in Springfield when – after a full IHL season with the Fort Wayne Komets – he was signed by the AHL's Adirondack Red Wings as an emergency injury replacement during first-round series of the 1992 Calder Cup playoffs against the New Haven Nighthawks.
Hockey-related endeavours At the start of his professional career, while a member of the Johnstown Jets of the North American Hockey League (NAHL), Boudreau appeared as an extra in the 1977 film Slap Shot; his apartment at the time was used in the film for Paul Newman's character, coach of the fictional Charlestown Chiefs.
Boudreau is the owner of two junior ice hockey teams, Minnesota Blue Ox and Hershey Cubs, in the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL).
He has joined the NHL Network as an analyst when he is not coaching.
Personal life Boudreau and his wife have one son. He also has three other children – two sons and a daughter from his first marriage. In 1982, Boudreau started the Golden Horseshoe Hockey School, a youth summer hockey camp operating out of St. Catharines, Ontario, which he continues to coach with in the off-seasons.
Boudreau has been a supporter of the Toronto Maple Leafs since childhood, and admits that he still cheers for the club when the team does not face off against a squad that he is actively coaching, and watches Maple Leafs games on television when he is able to.
Boudreau is known for his talkative personality, earning him the nickname "Gabby". In 2009, he released his memoir, Gabby: Confessions of a Hockey Lifer.
Boudreau's son, Ben, was named head coach of the Ontario Hockey League's Niagara IceDogs in November 2023 after four seasons coaching in the ECHL.
Career statistics Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1972–73 Toronto Marlboros OHA-Jr. 61 38 49 87 22 — — — — — 1972–73 Toronto Marlboros M-Cup — — — — — 3 0 1 1 0 1973–74 Toronto Marlboros OHA-Jr. 53 46 67 113 51 — — — — — 1974–75 Toronto Marlboros OMJHL 69 68 97 165 52 22 12 28 40 26 1974–75 Toronto Marlboros M-Cup — — — — — 5 2 2 4 15 1975–76 Minnesota Fighting Saints WHA 30 3 6 9 4 — — — — — 1975–76 Johnstown Jets NAHL 34 25 35 60 14 9 6 5 11 7 1976–77 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 15 2 5 7 4 3 0 0 0 0 1976–77 Dallas Black Hawks CHL 58 34 37 71 40 1 1 1 2 0 1977–78 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 40 11 18 29 12 — — — — — 1977–78 Dallas Black Hawks CHL 22 13 9 22 11 — — — — — 1978–79 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 26 4 3 7 2 — — — — — 1978–79 New Brunswick Hawks AHL 49 20 38 58 20 5 1 1 2 8 1979–80 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 2 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 1979–80 New Brunswick Hawks AHL 75 36 54 90 47 17 6 7 13 23 1980–81 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 39 10 14 24 18 2 1 0 1 0 1980–81 New Brunswick Hawks AHL 40 17 41 58 22 8 6 5 11 14 1981–82 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 12 0 2 2 6 — — — — — 1981–82 Cincinnati Tigers CHL 65 42 61 103 42 4 3 1 4 8 1982–83 St. Catharines Saints AHL 80 50 72 122 65 — — — — — 1982–83 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL — — — — — 4 1 0 1 0 1983–84 St. Catharines Saints AHL 80 47 62 109 44 7 0 5 5 11 1984–85 ECD Iserlohn 1.GBun 30 20 28 48 41 3 2 1 3 4 1984–85 Baltimore Skipjacks AHL 17 4 7 11 4 15 3 9 12 4 1985–86 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 7 1 0 1 2 — — — — — 1985–86 Nova Scotia Oilers AHL 65 30 36 66 36 — — — — — 1986–87 Nova Scotia Oilers AHL 78 35 47 82 40 5 3 3 6 4 1987–88 Springfield Indians AHL 80 42 74 116 84 — — — — — 1988–89 Springfield Indians AHL 50 28 36 64 42 — — — — — 1988–89 Newmarket Saints AHL 20 7 16 23 12 4 0 1 1 6 1989–90 Phoenix Roadrunners IHL 82 41 68 109 89 — — — — — 1990–91 Fort Wayne Komets IHL 81 40 80 120 111 19 11 7 18 30 1991–92 Fort Wayne Komets IHL 77 34 50 84 100 7 3 4 7 10 1991–92 Adirondack Red Wings AHL — — — — — 4 1 1 2 2 NHL totals 141 28 42 70 46 9 2 0 2 0WHA totals 30 3 6 9 4 — — — — — CHL totals 145 92 104 196 93 5 4 2 6 8 AHL totals 634 316 483 799 416 65 20 32 52 72
Awards, honours and records Records Boudreau remains the 16th leading all-time goal-scorer in the AHL with 316, also 13th in assists with 483, and 12th in points with 799. For the minor leagues as a whole, Boudreau is eighth all-time with 1,368 points, and 13th in both goals and assists with 548 and 820 respectively; he is in the top 25 all-time scorers for professional ice hockey. Scored 100 points or more for five separate minor league teams. Named to the Central Hockey League's First All-Star Team in 1982. Named to the American Hockey League's First All-Star Team in 1988. Inducted into the 2009 class of the AHL Hall of Fame.
Team records – Springfield Indians Assists in a season – 74 (1987–88) Points in a season – 116 (1987–88)
Awards Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy – 1974–75 OMJHL season (Toronto Marlboros) John B. Sollenberger Trophy – 1987–88 AHL season (Springfield Indians) Memorial Cup and J. Ross Robertson Cup with the 1974–75 Toronto Marlboros
Coaching career
Minor leagues After his playing days were over, Boudreau began a highly successful coaching career. In the minor leagues, Boudreau has coached the Muskegon Fury, Fort Wayne Komets, Mississippi Sea Wolves, Lowell Lock Monsters, Manchester Monarchs, and Hershey Bears.
Under Boudreau's leadership, the Bears won the Calder Cup championship in 2005–06. The Bears made it all the way back to the Calder Cup finals under Boudreau again in 2007, ultimately falling to the Hamilton Bulldogs.
Previously, Boudreau coached the Mississippi Sea Wolves to the Kelly Cup championship in 1998–99, and also led the Fort Wayne Komets to the Turner Cup Final in 1993–94. Boudreau was awarded the Commissioner's Trophy as coach of the 1993–94 Komets.
Washington Capitals (2007–2012)
Boudreau was named interim head coach of the NHL's Washington Capitals on November 22, 2007, and later their permanent coach on December 26. He compiled a 37–17–7 rookie coaching record with a team that was 6–14–1 when he inherited it. Under Boudreau's leadership, the 2007–08 Capitals won their first Southeast Division title in seven years and made the playoffs for the first time in five years. He also won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's best coach in 2007–08.
Boudreau continued his success in his second season as coach of the Capitals, leading the Capitals to a record of 50–24–8 and 108 points, good enough for another Southeast Division title and second in the Eastern Conference.
In his third season with the Capitals, Boudreau led the team to a 54–15–13 record and 121 points, which was not only good enough for a third straight Southeast Division title, but also was the most points in the NHL, leading to the team's first Presidents' Trophy. Their success in the regular season, however, did not carry over to the postseason, as they lost to the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens in seven games, losing the last three games of the series.
After a hot start to the 2011–12 season, the Capitals fell apart, posting just four wins in 13 games during the month of November 2011. Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin both vastly underperformed during the stretch. These and other factors led to Boudreau's firing on November 28, despite Boudreau having reached 200 regular season wins faster than any coach in the modern NHL era. He was replaced by former Capitals captain and then-London Knights head coach Dale Hunter.
Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota Wild (2012–2020) Two days after he was fired by the Capitals, the Anaheim Ducks hired Boudreau to replace the recently fired Randy Carlyle as their head coach. Boudreau became the fastest coach to be hired after being fired in NHL history.
On April 29, 2016, Boudreau was fired by the Ducks after they lost a game 7 on home ice for the fourth consecutive year. He led the Ducks to four consecutive Pacific Division titles in his four full seasons in Anaheim.