It must have taken less than a minute between the announcement that Guy Boucher had been hired as an assistant coach in Toronto and the start of speculation that he might soon replace current Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe.
The Leafs’ inability to achieve playoff success is well documented. Keefe will be out of contract at the end of next season. A new CEO has just been appointed. And Boucher comes with the makings of a head coach — a position he held in Tampa and Ottawa for six seasons during the 2010 decade.
If, indeed, a Machiavellian plan is organized in the Queen City, then Sheldon Keefe is a damn good actor. Because in front of the Toronto journalists, met Thursday by means of a videoconference, he was dithyrambic with the place of his new assistant.
The Press obviously tried to get the impressions of Guy Boucher himself. However, the interview had to be authorized by the Maple Leafs organization, and our request was refused due to an internal policy prohibiting assistant coaches from interviewing journalists. So let’s pass the microphone back to Keefe.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Sheldon Keefe, during the passage of the Maple Leafs from Toronto to Montreal, last January
The Leafs pilot announced from the outset that Boucher would be mainly responsible for the power play. This task was left vacant by the departure of Spencer Carbery, who became head coach of the Washington Capitals a few weeks ago.
“It’s very exciting,” Keefe said of the 51-year-old Quebecer’s hiring. We have known each other for a long time, and having spoken to him many times over the past few years, I know how passionate he is about the power play. »
Boucher is thus given the steering wheel of a powerful machine that has been run to the quarter turn. Toronto’s massive offense has finished first and second in the league, respectively, the past two seasons. Its success rates (27.3% and 26%) rank in the top 10 performances with one more man since the 2004-2005 lockout.
Sheldon Keefe mentioned that all the candidates he met seemed “febrile” at the idea of ”working with our elite players” – Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares, Morgan Rielly… Consequently, “our standards are very high, and so are the expectations of our players”, he warned.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
John Tavares (91) and Mitch Marner (16) in net for the Montreal Canadiens
However, he believes he has found his man in Boucher, whose experience and skills he praised, but also his “philosophy”. “He knows our strengths and wants to work in a way that continues to build our group,” said Sheldon Keefe.
He has completed his group of coaches by also welcoming Mike Van Ryn who will be responsible for the defenders.
With all the imperatives of a long NHL season and what that involves in preparing players, having so many resources will be incredible for us. I expect collaboration among my staff. I’ve always led my teams like this: everyone helps each other. The amount of experience we have is quite incredible.
Sheldon Keefe, head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs
Various media have reported that Guy Boucher came close to becoming the head coach of the Maple Leafs in 2015. At the time, however, Mike Babcock was preferred to him.
The native of Notre-Dame-du-Lac, in Bas-Saint-Laurent, spent three seasons behind the bench of the Tampa Bay Lightning (2010-2013) and three others behind that of the Ottawa Senators (2016-2019). He led each of these teams to the conference finals.
Between his first two stints in the NHL, he managed CP Bern, Switzerland. He had taken his first steps as a professional with the Hamilton Bulldogs, which were then the school club of the Montreal Canadiens. After only one season (2009-2010), he was hired in Tampa.
Since leaving Ottawa, he has been an analyst at RDS.
Kirk Muller in Washington
PHOTO NATHAN DENETTE, THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Kirk Muller
Another former member of the Habs organization found a new job on Thursday. Kirk Muller has indeed been named assistant coach of the Washington Capitals. Muller has spent the past two seasons as an associate coach with the Calgary Flames. He was in line to replace head coach Darryl Sutter following the latter’s dismissal, but was preferred to Ryan Huska, who was previously an assistant in Calgary. Muller has worked as a coach – head, partner or assistant – virtually continuously since 2006, in Montreal (twice), Carolina, St. Louis and Calgary.