While some dismissals are sometimes hostile and difficult, it was quite the opposite in the case of Joël Bouchard. The Quebecer has no bitterness and explains the situation by a “combination of circumstances”.
Posted at 1:44 p.m.
We learned Wednesday evening that Joël Bouchard and his two assistants with the San Diego Gulls, Daniel Jacob and Maxime Talbot, had been thanked by the Anaheim Ducks.
Back in Quebec, Bouchard did not hesitate to answer the call of The Press, Thursday morning. ” I’m feeling very well. It was super well done, ”he says from the outset.
The three coaches suspected something. The Ducks organization is going through a period of change. General manager Bob Murray, who had been in the role for several years, left the organization in October. Then Pat Verbeek was hired in February.
Bouchard, Jacob and Talbot are victims of the change of plan.
“Honestly, we kinda knew it was coming,” he says.
“We spoke for 20 minutes, it was very cordial, we discussed files. There was mutual respect. Pat told us a few times that we were professionals. It’s not easy, putting people out, I’ve done it before. It’s no fun. We told him: “Pat, we don’t know each other, it’s normal”. He doesn’t really know us either. »
Joël Bouchard recalls that he arrived “in the Bob Murray era”. When Bouchard’s contract with the Laval Rocket expired, the 1er July 2021, Murray was the first to give him a call.
“When they called me on 1er July, we had a plan, he says. I was fine in Laval, I was not unhappy. They were my boys. We had built something in three years. It’s a combination of circumstances, the reasons that brought me to Anaheim, and it’s a combination of circumstances, the reasons why I left. »
“At the end of the day, we went there with Bob Murray. Bob had a plan. This plan was what it was. Pat Verbeek is coming. He will put his plan into action, his structure. And honestly, he has work to do. »
A challenge
When Joël Bouchard decided to leave Laval last year, after three seasons as a Rocket driver, he wanted to “live a new experience, learn something else”. And that’s what he did.
“It forced me to challenge myself in a different situation,” he says. It was not the same business in San Diego as in Laval. At some point in life, you step out of your comfort zone. That’s what I decided to do and I regret zero. »
It hasn’t been an easy season in Southern California. The change of CEO changed a lot of things. COVID too.
“Since Bob was still in charge of everything, it was frayed lineups at times. With COVID, we didn’t have it easy either because we had it on two stages. It was six weeks of rotation, our guys didn’t all get it all at once. Guys from the Ducks got it after. We played matches at 18 [joueurs], but we had a lot of depth. »
At one point, the team’s top two scorers were two defenders turned forwards. The coaches had to find solutions throughout the season.
“We gave ourselves a chance in every game, we were never downgraded, we were there all the time. But sometimes, maybe a little goal was missing here and there. »
The Gulls finally made it to the playoffs with a 28-33-7 record: “For us, that was quite an accomplishment,” said Bouchard. The team was ultimately eliminated in two games by the Ontario Reign.
The following
So what’s next for the 48-year-old? “I’m going to spend time with the people I love, who I haven’t seen in a long time with COVID,” he replies. A lot of people didn’t come to see me, my parents didn’t travel. »
“It’s a little weird because I’ve had lots of text messages from people telling me they’re sorry,” he says. But I’m not like that. I’m a lot more disappointed when the team loses. In the category of disappointments, this is very low for me. »
Over the years, Bouchard has been owner, general manager, trainer. He worked as general manager of the World Juniors. It also has a hockey academy. The list of his accomplishments is long. “I really like coaching players, I’m passionate about it,” he suggests. “We will see what the future will bring me. »