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Bruce Boudreau

2008-05-10


PRINCETON, N.J. – Former Mississippi Sea Wolves and current Washington Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau is the MeiGray Group ECHL Alumnus of the Month for April.

Boudreau led Mississippi to the 1999 Kelly Cup Championship and in three seasons with the Sea Wolves was 109-75-26. He coached Hershey of the American Hockey League for three seasons before joining the Capitals and led the team to the Eastern Conference championship and the Calder Cup finals in each of his first two years and won the Calder Cup in 2006. Boudreau is one of 15 coaches with an ECHL background working behind an NHL bench and is the second head coach currently in the NHL joining Peter Laviolette, who coached the Wheeling Nailers and is now head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes.

In his first NHL coaching job Boudreau led the Capitals to one of the most dramatic turnarounds in NHL history. Named head coach on Nov. 22 with the 6-14-1 Capitals at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, Boudreau led his club to a 37-17-7 mark the rest of the way, including seven consecutive victories to close the season, and captured the Southeast Division title in the final game of the season. He reached 20 victories (34 games) and 30 victories (53 games) faster than any coach in Capitals history. Boudreau is also one of the three finalists for the Jack Adams Award, presented to the head coach who has "contributed the most to his team's success."

The Washington Capitals won their last seven games and went 11-1-0 in their last 12 regular season games to claim the Southeast Division with 94 points (43-31-8) before losing to the Philadelphia Flyers in seven games in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The ECHL is the top developmental league for both the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League. It has affiliations with 26 of the 30 teams in the NHL, marking the 11th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL, and with 26 of the 29 teams in the AHL. There have been 355 former ECHL players who have played in the NHL after playing in the ECHL.

Twenty-six former ECHL players have made their NHL debut this season: former Peoria Rivermen and Alaska Aces goaltender Chris Beckford-Tseu (St. Louis on Feb. 21), former Pensacola Ice Pilots left wing Adam Berti (Chicago on Apr. 4), former Florida Everblades center David Brine (Florida on Feb. 2), former Idaho Steelheads right wing B.J. Crombeen (Dallas on Jan. 19), former Gwinnett Gladiators left wing Kevin Doell (Atlanta on Jan. 4), former Alaska defenseman Zack FitzGerald (Vancouver on Feb. 5), former Columbia left wing Alex Foster (Toronto on Mar. 18), former Fresno goaltender Thomas Greiss (San Jose on Jan. 14), former Roanoke Express and Wheeling Nailers left wing Jason Jaffray (Vancouver on Dec. 12), former Wheeling Nailers left wing Joe Jensen (Carolina on Feb. 18), former Dayton and Elmira goaltender Dan LaCosta (Columbus on Mar. 25), former Toledo Storm goaltender Drew MacIntyre (Vancouver on Dec. 13), former San Diego Gulls left wing Cody McLeod (Colorado on Dec. 19), former Alaska Aces and Pensacola Ice Pilots center Chris Minard (Pittsburgh on Jan. 21), former Columbia Inferno center Brandon Nolan (Carolina on Dec. 22), former Johnstown Chiefs and Fresno Falcons goaltender Dmitri Patzold (San Jose on Oct. 7), former Gwinnett Gladiators and Louisiana IceGators left wing Pascal Pelletier (Boston on Jan. 17), former Reading Royals goaltender Jonathan Quick (Los Angeles on Dec. 6), former Stockton Thunder left wing Liam Reddox (Edmonton on Dec. 7), former Cincinnati Cyclones left wing Greg Stewart (Montreal on Apr. 5), former Gwinnett Gladiators left wing Colin Stuart (Atlanta on Dec. 29), former Bakersfield Condors, Reading Royals, Texas Wildcatters and Wheeling Nailers goaltender Danny Taylor (Los Angeles on Mar. 29), former Columbus Chill, Richmond Renegades and Trenton Titans left wing Pete Vandermeer (Phoenix on Feb. 10), former San Diego goaltender Tyler Weiman (Colorado on Oct. 4), former Charlotte Checkers right wing Craig Weller (Phoenix on Oct. 4) and former Phoenix RoadRunners center Daniel Winnik (Phoenix Coyotes on Oct. 4).

The leading distributor of game-worn hockey jerseys and "Official Game-Worn Jersey Source of the ECHL," MeiGray has sold more than 4,000 game-worn ECHL jerseys since the program began in 2002-03, including nearly 1,000 each of the past three seasons.

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