Canucks Boudreau Talks Brock Boeser Bounce Back – ‘I Lost My Dad When I was Coaching’

Vancouver Canucks Head Coach Bruce Boudreau spoke to Vancouver Hockey Now Friday evening and discussed the announcements of his new coaching staff and the signing of winger Brock Boeser to a new three-year deal.

“I’m extremely happy that Brock got signed,” Boudreau said. “It’s so hard in today’s day and age to find good goal scorers and Brock definitely is one, and I think everybody can give him a mulligan from last year for what he went through, and we’re really excited to see him this year bounce back and have a great year.”

Boeser signed Friday for three-years at $6.650-million per season after finishing last season with 23 goals and 23 assists in 71 regular season games.

Aside from the nagging Covid tests and protocols that bugged the team all season, especially for frequent border crossings, and a few minor injuries, Boeser was dealing with an extremely difficult situation back home in Minnesota. His father Duke was suffering from a number of maladies that eventually claimed his life shortly after the NHL season.

Father and son were very close and Duke’s deteriorating health served as a serious distraction. Brock shared those emotions and shed tears when asked about the situation during his post-season media availability.

“I knew about his dad’s illness and I told him him early when I got here, I think in the first meeting, that if he needed to go home to see his dad to just let me know and we’ll make it happen,” Boudreau said. “He stayed there a couple extra days in Minnesota when we went there to play, so I was well aware of it. I had some good conversations with Brock, so I knew how he was feeling and that it was very bothersome to him and understandably so.

“I lost my father while I was coaching in Manchester (New Hampshire, AHL) and I knew how difficult it was,” Boudreau added, “so, I’ve been through the experience. I wish no one had to go through it, but it happened.”

The busy Vancouver Canucks management team made two other announcements on Friday. The re-signing of defencemen Jack Rathbone and Noah Juulsen and forward Will Lockwood, and some major changes to the organization’s coaching staffs. Mike Yeo and Trent Cull were named as Boudreau’s assistant coaches while former Chicago Blackhawks Head Coach Jeremy Colliton was hired to take over for Cull as head coach in Abbotsford.