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Your moment of anti-zen: Bask in Guy Boucher’s glorious rage

Guy Boucher

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Guy Boucher, center, reacts in the first period of Game 3 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference final playoff series against the Boston Bruins, Thursday, May 19, 2011, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

AP

While I can’t speak from experience, being a head coach for a professional sports team certainly seems like a high-pressure job. It’s especially the case in the NHL, where every coach not named Barry Trotz or Lindy Ruff enjoys job “security” that would fail to impress a temp. (Not to mention the fact that hockey games often come down to lucky bounces and isolated errors.)

By just about all accounts, Tampa Bay Lightning coach Guy Boucher seems like a keeper. After the jaw-dropping flop that was the aborted Barry Melrose era and the not-much-better days of Rich Tocchet, Boucher deserves just as much credit as GM Steve Yzerman for the team’s march toward competency.

Despite the franchise’s noted disinterest in employing enforcers, Boucher still demands respect and ... yes, maybe a bit of fear. He looks like a guy who can “take care of himself” even before you notice that spectacular (and mysterious?) scar on his face. Normally the coach is calm, calculated and quotable during press conferences, but a truly special moment happened in Game 3.

Boucher just flat-out lost it when Marc-Andre Bergeron received an unwarranted elbowing penalty after landing a big hit on David Krejci. Here’s a video clip of the hit, with a brief glimpse of Boucher’s reaction.

To be fair to Boucher, his anger was justifiable. It was a bad call that had the potential to put the Lightning in an early 2-0 hole against the Boston Bruins. Thankfully, the situation didn’t get any uglier since Tampa Bay killed the penalty, so we can look back at that bad call as a source of comedy beyond anything else.

For a much longer and better look at Boucher’s festival of robust rage, enjoy this GIF of Boucher’s tirade from James Mirtle. (I’m not sure I’d say it’s “NSFW” unless everyone reads Boucher’s lips ...)

Also, since we’re feeling generous, here are two more photos of Boucher’s angry reaction. (All photos via Chris O’Meara of The Associated Press.)

Guy Boucher

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Guy Boucher gestures in the first period of Game 3 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference final playoff series against the Boston Bruins, Thursday, May 19, 2011, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

AP

(Custom PHT caption: Boucher probably says a bad word.)

Guy Boucher

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Guy Boucher, center, gestures in the first period of Game 3 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference final playoff series against the Boston Bruins, Thursday, May 19, 2011, in Tampa, Fla. Bruins won 2-0. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

AP

(Custom PHT caption: Boucher goes to the replay to further display is displeasure.)