Vancouver Canucks fire Bruce Boudreau; Rick Tocchet new coach

The Vancouver Canucks have fired Bruce Boudreau and hired Rick Tocchet as their next head coach.

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin made the announcement Sunday after much speculation that Boudreau’s time with the Canucks was coming to an end, assistant coach Trent Cull was let go as well.

“We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Bruce and Trent for their contributions to this organization,” said Allvin. “We appreciate their dedication and wish them nothing but the best moving forward. This was not an easy decision to make, but one that we felt was necessary for this franchise.”

Tocchet most recently coached for the Arizona Coyotes, spending four seasons with the team. Prior to his time in Arizona, Tocchet was an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins, helping the team win two Stanley Cups along the way.

Brendan Batchelor, play-by-play broadcaster for the Vancouver Canucks on Sportsnet 650, says Tocchet will bring a new style to the team.

“He has a reputation for asking a lot of his players requiring high standards and expecting that his players meet them and, you know, I think he’ll likely come in here and try to clean up some of the team’s systems in terms of their structure and their defensive play,” Batchelor explained.

Adam Foote and Sergei Gonchar will also be joining the team’s coaching staff.

Tocchet is scheduled to be introduced to the media in Vancouver Sunday at 1 p.m.