Following the dismissal of Bruce Boudreau, where do the Ducks go from here?
Just 36 hours after presiding over the Anaheim Ducks fourth straight Game 7 ouster in the playoffs, Bruce Boudreau was told his services were no longer needed in Anaheim by GM Bob Murray. At a press conference Friday, it was a decision that Murray repeatedly said was difficult but necessary for the team's current group of players to move forward and win a Stanley Cup.
The most successful regular-season head coach in Ducks' history, Boudreau won division titles in each of his four full seasons with the team after taking over in 2011 from Randy Carlyle. Prior to his arrival, Anaheim had only captured one division title in team history.
But despite the team's unprecedented success in the regular season, Boudreau's futility in Game 7s four straight years on home ice made the relationship untenable for Murray, who had consistently provided Boudreau with a talent-heavy squad year after year.
"Decisions like this are not easy," Murray told FOX Sports West's Kent French in an exclusive one-on-one interview following the announcement of Boudreau's firing. "He won a lot of games, Bruce. We won four division titles."
"It's a matter of going forward. Can I see us playing with somewhat, you know it can't be all the same, core group? But I couldn't see it working. I just did not see it working and I thought a change had to be made."
Seeing the team's first two losses at home to the Predators in this year's ill-fated playoff attempt as the tell-tale sign, Murray knew after the Ducks crashed out at home once again that his decision was final.
So where do the Ducks go from here having won the most games in any four-year period of their history but with no Stanley Cups or even conference titles to show from it?
Murray says he is in no hurry to make a new hire but did outline some of what he was looking for.
"Somebody who is more in touch with the younger generation... It's somebody to deal with that and to know how to make them not afraid to make mistakes," said Murray.
With a strong corp of young defensemen, forwards Jakob Silfverberg and Rickard Rakell and goalie John Gibson, whomever Murray hires to replace Boudreau will not be short of young talent to work with. Whether on not that coach can utilize his youngsters in conjuction with optimizing the playoff performances of underachieving stars Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf remains to be seen.
A Game 7 win here or there wouldn't hurt either.
