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Boudreau wants a new job right away, and it sure looks like he’ll get one

Anaheim Ducks v Vancouver Canucks

Anaheim Ducks v Vancouver Canucks

NHLI via Getty Images

Bruce Boudreau doesn’t like being unemployed.

“I’ve always worked,” Boudreau said this week, per the O.C. Register. “Since I was 17 years old, there was never a time I never had a job. In the hockey jobs when I’ve gotten fired, I’ve tried to get back into work right away.”

You don’t say.

Back in 2011, Boudreau was out of a job for 48 hours when -- after getting fired by the Caps on a Monday -- Anaheim hired him that Wednesday.

Now he’s looking at a similar situation.

Last Friday, Boudreau was fired after Anaheim’s disappointing opening-round playoff exit to Nashville.

Today, the Ottawa Sun reported the Senators have officially received permission to speak with Boudreau about their vacant head coaching gig.

Oh, and guess what else happened today? Calgary fired Bob Hartley, just one year after Hartley captured the Jack Adams as NHL coach of the year.

Almost immediately, Boudreau was floated as a potential replacement in Calgary -- or, depending how you look at it, part of the reason GM Brad Treliving decided to turf Hartley.

There’s another team believed to be interested in Boudreau’s services as well -- Minnesota.

Sportsnet reported that Wild GM Chuck Fletcher reached out to Anaheim about interviewing Boudreau. But the Minnesota situation seems to be on hold, until all discussions have wrapped with interim bench boss John Torchetti.

There’s little surprise teams are clamoring to get Boudreau on board.

Playoff failures aside, his resume is stacked. He won eight division titles in nine years with Washington and Anaheim, boasts a 409-192-80 career record, and won the 2008 Jack Adams Award.

In firing Boudreau, Ducks GM Bob Murray lauded him as a “good coach” and “very passionate hockey guy.” Boudreau’s also earned the reputation as a player’s coach, largely because of his communication skills -- he comes by that “Gabby” nickname honestly -- and open door policy.

“He was a friend, you could talk to him at any point and time,” Corey Perry said following Boudreau’s dismissal, per the Ducks website. “The door was always open. He coached this team, and I can’t say enough about him.

“He did a lot for my game.”

So yeah, all signs certainly point to Boudreau being back behind a bench next year.

Unless he’s not.

The coaching world is fluid, and constantly changing. Ottawa’s got a lengthy list of candidates aside from Boudreau, Minnesota could easily stick with Torchetti and, per TSN’s Bob McKenzie, Calgary’s decision to turf Hartley wasn’t about who’s available, but rather about getting a new voice behind the bench.

So it’s probably too early to say what the Flames want to do next.

Boudreau, though, knows exactly what he wants to do next.

“I love the game,” Boudreau said. “I love the people involved in the game. There’s no place I’d rather be than a hockey arena.

“I just know that’s me.”