Bruce Boudreau: 'I don't want to step away' from coaching

Bruce Boudreau has broken his silence for the first time since his firing Sunday afternoon.

The former Vancouver Canucks head coach spoke with NHL Morning Skate on SiriusXM NHL Monday morning in a wide ranging interview on his future, his relationship with team management, and much more.

The longtime NHL coach expressed his thoughts on the tumultuous season leading up to Sunday’s decision and if he was at all caught off guard by Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford when the shoe finally dropped.

“I was pretty sure it was coming from about Oct. 8,” Boudreau chuckled. “I just didn’t know when.”

His sentiment echoed much of what he’d expressed over the weekend to reporters, as well as the emotional send-off he received from Canucks fans on Saturday as they serenaded him with chants of “Bruce, there it is” one final time.

The 68-year-old was dismissed Sunday along with assistant coach Trent Cull. The Canucks immediately hired former NHL star forward and Arizona Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet as their new bench boss.

Boudreau added further that despite the way the situation had been handled, his passion for coaching never waivered throughout the ordeal.

“I don’t want to step away from it, I love this. I mean, I could’ve gone back to work yesterday,” the former Jack Adams winner told the network. “It gets you mad when it happens because nobody likes it…but for me, I want to show everybody that I’m still good.

“Until I can’t skate anymore, and I’m not a great skater now but I can move around the ice still, I want to keep going.”

During the conversation, Boudreau added that he had no plans to step away from the game in any capacity in the meantime. The 68-year-old was adamant that he’d continue to watch hockey every night, while others have expressed interest in seeing the lovable coach provide insight on national television in the meantime, leading to speculation that could be in his future as well.

Boudreau certainly didn’t seem to rule that possibility out himself, explaining that he was hoping to remain visible and be forthright in letting people know that he’s “always ready for another challenge.”

As far as his relationship with Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin goes, both of whom were widely denounced for their handling of the process and its immediate aftermath, Boudreau chose to keep largely mum, at least in part due to contractual agreements, he explained.

“It’s a sensitive area, and that’s the one portion of this that I’d really rather not talk about in public,” he said. “At some point, maybe I’ll feel compelled to say some things, but right now, I’ll leave that stuff private.”

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