Toronto Star on Boudreau: NHL Job is Just a Matter of Time

The Toronto Star is singing the praises of Hershey Bears bench boss Bruce Boudreau. They, like most Capitals and Hershey experts, believe that he will end up in the NHL as a Head Coach someday soon.


Boudreau's coming up big behind the bench
TheStar.com - Sports - Boudreau's coming up big behind the bench

`I don't know what else I could do if it wasn't for hockey,' ex-Leaf says of coaching the AHL's Bears

June 01, 2007
Kevin McGran
SPORTS REPORTER

They used to say he was too short to play in the NHL. Surely they can't say he's too short to coach in the NHL.

Bruce Boudreau did what he was supposed to do in junior hockey and the minors to impress scouts, coaches and general managers. He scored. Lots. And his teams won. Plenty.

But the guy they called "Gabby" couldn't catch a break. The Maple Leafs, who drafted him out of the Toronto Marlboros, treated him like a yo-yo. He was up and down to and from the minors for seven consecutive seasons. Despite his talent, his 5-foot-10 frame was apparently the obstacle to a long NHL career.

Now 52, Boudreau has an impressive resumé as a minor league coach with a .583 winning percentage. Last year, he coached the Hershey Bears to the Calder Cup. This year, the top farm team of the Washington Capitals is at it again, defending their title by taking on the Hamilton Bulldogs in a best-of-seven series that series begins tonight in Hershey, Pa.

"This is my 32nd year of fighting to get to the NHL," said Boudreau yesterday. "It's always your goal. You're always plugging away and hoping something will happen. But at the same time, quite frankly, I don't know what else I could do if it wasn't for hockey.

"I loved everywhere I've gone. I just keep doing what I do and hopefully somebody will notice."

And he's been everywhere, a member of 16 pro teams as a player. Boudreau actually got his pro start in 1975 with the WHA's Minnesota Fighting Saints' top farm team, the Johnstown (Pa.) Jets of the North American Hockey League. It happened to be where and when the movie Slap Shot was filmed.

Boudreau landed a bit part playing for the Hyannisport Presidents against Paul Newman's Charlestown Chiefs. He wore No.7.

"I'm the little hog that stays in front of the net because I knew where the camera was," said Boudreau.

Perhaps it was there that his reputation as the Crash Davis of pro hockey began. He was a prolific scorer in the minors. One of four players in AHL history to top the 100-point mark three times in his career, Boudreau sits 11th on the AHL's all-time scoring list with 799 points in 634 games over 11 seasons, and his 1.26 career points-per-game average ranks second among the 71 members of the 500-point club. No player scored more in the AHL in the 1980s than Boudreau.

"I'm not as good looking as Kevin Costner," said Boudreau, in reference to the Bull Durham star. "It's sort of a compliment. But at the same time, Crash Davis, no matter how good he did, was never going to get to the big leagues. That, I hope, is the difference."

He believes he'll coach in the NHL someday.

"I'm very happy with the Capitals," said Boudreau. But if anybody ever came along, I would certainly look at it."

Former St. Louis Blues coach Mike Kitchen, Boudreau's friend since they were teammates on the Marlies, thinks it's a matter of time.

"He recognizes talent so well," said Kitchen. "As we all know, there's only 30 of those jobs out there.

"It's being patient, and timing is everything in those jobs."