Former Washington Capitals bench boss Bruce Boudreau is returning behind the bench for the first time after being fired by the Vancouver Canucks last season.
Team Canada announced on Friday that Boudreau will be in charge of their staff at the 2023 Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland.
Coaches are set for the #SpenglerCup! 🍁
Voici nos entraîneurs pour la #CoupeSpengler! 🍁
HC/EC: Bruce Boudreau
AC/EA: Larry Mitchell
AC/EA: Jim Playfair
AC/EA: Jeff Tomlinson— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) December 15, 2023
Boudreau, who has coached four different NHL teams, is in the middle of his first season as a senior advisor with the Niagara IceDogs of the OHL. This year’s Spengler Cup will be his debut on the international coaching stage after he wasn’t able to attend the 2021 Channel One Cup or Spengler Cup despite being invited as an assistant.
The Team Canada job is Boudreau’s first since he was left languishing as a lame duck head coach before being let go by the Canucks in January 2023. Boudreau has been steadfast in his desire to coach again after he departed Vancouver.
Boudreau’s staff will also include Larry Mitchell, Jim Playfair, and Jeff Tomlinson. Mitchell is the interim head coach of EHC Kloten in the Swiss National League (where Brooks Laich once played), Playfair is an associate coach with the Prince George Cougars of the WHL, and Tomlinson is a senior advisor with EHC Kloten.
The Spengler Cup is an annual invitational tournament held in Davos and hosted by HC Davos every year. Both club and national teams participate in the tournament, with Team Canada finishing on top the most out of any participant (16). Last year, Swiss club HC Ambri-Piotta were the winners and Czech club Sparta Prague were the runners-up.
This year’s participants include Team Canada, HC Ambri-Piotta, HC Davos, Frolunda HC, KalPa Kuopio, and HC Dynamo Pardubice. Past Canadian rosters feature some of the country’s best players in the AHL, top Swiss league (NL), top Finnish league (Liiga), and other European leagues.
Boudreau has kept himself busy since leaving the Canucks. He’s served as as an analyst on NHL Network, filmed a TV commercial, and made an appearance on WWE television as a tag team wrestling manager. The popular hockey figure also is an owner of the Hershey Cubs where he resides full time.
