New Minnesota Wild Head Coach Bruce Boudreau has enjoyed great success at his previous stops. Now that he’s landed with the Wild how can he help push this team over the top?
Over the course of his ten-year tenure behind the NHL bench, Bruce Boudreau has been very successful. In his time with Washington and Anaheim, his teams won their division title eight times in ten years. To put that statistic in perspective, in their 15 year history, the Wild have exactly one division title. That is an attribute the Wild could desperately use since the team has put itself in difficult playoff positioning with sub par regular season performances.
His .659 points percentage puts Boudreau tops in that category among coaches who have at least ten seasons at the NHL level. What is more impressive is that Boudreau has managed this success without superstar players (Washington being the exception), a model the Wild will try to follow this upcoming season. Regular season success is something Boudreau has managed every step along the way, and it should be no different in Minnesota. This is especially true given that he inherits a team that has experienced recent success by making the playoffs in each of the past four seasons.
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The ability to adapt to his team’s strengths is another skill Boudreau has shown throughout his career, a skill he will try to transfer to this Wild team. Last year, the Ducks allowed 188 goals in the regular season, an average of 2.29 goals against per game. Until last year, they were not known as a stingy team and instead relied on offense to win them games. Throw in the fact that there was no established number one goalie in Anaheim and it becomes even more remarkable what Boudreau was able to get out of this team last season.
Minnesota’s roster is more suited to play this style. With an all-star goalie in Devan Dubnyk, a franchise defensemen (Ryan Suter), and two exceptional two-way forwards (Mikko Koivu and Zach Parise) defense has long been the key to this team’s success. But under Boudreau the Wild could become one of the best defensive teams in the league.
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Finally, the most important thing Boudreau brings an experienced, established coach to the locker room. For a team that has had issues in the locker room, Boudreau can be instrumental in finally getting this group of players to view itself as a team, not individuals. That’s something former coach Mike Yeo was never able to accomplish. When a coach who has experienced as much success as Boudreau walks into the locker room, people listen to what he has to say and they believe in it. That unity and belief has been missing from this Wild team ever since Jacques Lemaire left the team…that was a long time ago.