They convened in person at 6:15 a.m. Monday, a little more than four years after a phone call granted Bruce Boudreau his dream job. This time the news did not bring joy to the Capitals coach. This time general manager George McPhee told Boudreau his time behind the bench in Washington was over. Word spread to his players quickly. Most woke up to missed phone calls or text messages. Several read the news on the Internet. Almost to a man they took responsibility for Boudreau’s fate. Despite 201 wins in four-plus seasons, the Caps’ repeated playoff failures and a shocking slide this month sealed his fate.
“When I first found out this morning my first thought was I wish I could have done more,” forward Brooks Laich said. “That’s the nature of the beast. It’s a business, and we understand it. I feel terrible for Bruce because he’s leaving his dream job. It would be like if you ripped one of our players out of the locker room. If you ripped me out of the locker room. That’s how I think it would feel.”
Boudreau’s teams were a combined 201-88-40 under his watch and finished each of the past two seasons with the most standings points in the Eastern Conference. He was named the Jack Adams Award winner as NHL coach of the year after taking over for Glen Hanlon early in the 2007-08 season, lifting Washington from the worst record in the NHL the day he accepted the job to its first playoff appearance in five years. In the end, it wasn’t enough.
