Guy Boucher had the chance to coach the Columbus Blue Jackets, yet turned them down. Some thought that perhaps the Montreal Canadiens had coaxed him to stay within the organization. Turns out, he had a chance to go to another beleaguered team except this one was being managed by Steve Yzerman.
Today, the Tampa Bay Lightning formally announced Boucher as their new head coach. An ownership change, a new general manager and a new young, innovative coach and suddenly things are looking much brighter down in Florida.
“I’m certainly looking forward to building a culture as Steve says,” Boucher said. “We’ve got a lot of building blocks.”
Yzerman introduced Boucher as “a very confident and very strong leader.”
“I’m very confident he is the right leader to build a strong environment for our organization,” Yzerman said.
Turns out he’s not thinking about his system:
“I’m not coaching systems. I’m coaching players, managing individuals,” he said. “My system is different every year.”
Over time, build the team how you want but don’t go forcing anything in your first season with the players.
I’m looking at you, Marc Crawford.