Home / News / Bruce Boudreau becomes second fastest coach in NHL history to record 500 wins

Bruce Boudreau becomes second fastest coach in NHL history to record 500 wins

By Donya Abramo

 0 Comment

March 25, 2018 3:39 pm

On Saturday at the Xcel Energy Center, former Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau quietly hit a huge career milestone. With the Minnesota Wild’s 4-1 victory in regulation over the Nashville Predators, Boudreau recorded his 500th NHL win.

With the win, Boudreau became the second fastest coach in NHL history to reach the milestone. He finished just behind Scotty Bowman, taking 837 games to achieve the number to Bowman’s 825.

Out of active coaches, Boudreau is now the quickest to 500 wins, beating out the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Mike Babcock. Babcock took 895 to hit the same milestone.

Video

“I didn’t want anybody to make any fuss about any of it,” Boudreau said to the media, following his 500th win. “We’re in too tight of a playoff race. I talk about team all the time so if I start talking about this thing, then it sort of defeats what I’m really trying to accomplish.”

Boudreau wasn’t just being modest about his accomplishment. When asked, several of the Wild players had no idea that a win against the Predators would be Boudreau’s 500th.

“I did not know, but it’s a great accomplishment,” Nino Niederreiter said.

Jason Zucker was also in the dark. “I had no idea,” he said. “That’s great. We’ll have to get on him for that.”

“That’s a lot of wins,” Devan Dubnyk had to say. “He’s had a ton of success. Everywhere he’s went, you look it follows him around. That’s exciting for him. We’ll get a chance to congratulate him tomorrow. Hopefully get 501.”

As for when Boudreau might celebrate, or even think about, the milestone, that likely won’t be until the summer.

“In the summer, when I’m with family, it’ll be pretty cool,” Boudreau said. “Right now, let’s focus on the game and the team.”

Boudreau wasn’t the only head coach to reach a milestone on Saturday. With the Capitals triumphant over the Canadiens, Barry Trotz recorded his 200th win with the team. He now sits third, behind Boudreau at 201, for most franchise wins.

With seven games left in the regular season, we could yet see Trotz move into second place. But he’s still a long way off from first, which is held by Bryan Murray with 343 wins total.

Headline photo: @mnwild

,