The Hockey News: Ken Campbell's blog: THN.com Blog: Bruce Boudreau happy to help...to save a few bucks

THN.com Blog: Bruce Boudreau happy to help...to save a few bucks

Head coach Bruce Boudreau of the Washington Capitals poses with the Jack Adams Award. (Photo by Claus Anderson/Getty Images)

Ken Campbell
2008-07-25 15:29:42

Despite the fact he picked up the Jack Adams Trophy about a month ago, Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau continues to prove you can take the coach out of the minor leagues, but you can’t take the minor leagues out of the coach.

Saturday morning, Boudreau will put 48 hockey players through their paces in something called the Hockey Resume Free Agent Camp in Niagara Falls, Ont. Now, the Hockey Resume Free Agent Camp and, let’s say, the first round of the NHL draft should not be confused. Hockey Resume is a company that tries to find jobs in the minor leagues, often the low minors, for players who don’t have contracts.

And having played and coached more than 2,000 games for 18 teams in the minors prior to landing his gig with the Capitals last season, Boudreau finds himself right at home among journeymen minor leaguers looking for work.

It has all the makings of a lovely story about a guy who toiled for years in obscurity before making good, then coming back to help inspire those who are following the same skate tracks.

"I’m basically doing it so my son doesn’t have to pay," Boudreau said. "They wanted something like 400 bucks (actually $325) for the camp and I said I’d help out with a practice and give their camp some validity if my son could attend for free. I did the same thing at the Roger Neilson Hockey Camp last week for my other son."

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Boudreau’s son, Ben, contacted Hockey Resume recently to enquire about the camp and offered his father’s services. Ben has played some Jr. A hockey in the past and was playing in a senior loop in Belleville this past season while attending Loyalist College.

He’ll go to training camp in the fall with the Hershey Bears of the American League, the Capitals affiliate where his father coached before going to Washington.

"With my connections, we’re hoping to get him a spot in the ECHL and we’ll see what happens from there," Boudreau said.

Ken Campbell is a senior writer for The Hockey News and a regular contributor to THN.com. His blog normally appears Tuesdays and Fridays and his column, Campbell's Cuts, appears Mondays.

For more great profiles, news and views from the world of hockey, Subscribe to The Hockey News magazine.

COMMENTS (14)

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Paul Griffin Posted
(2009-04-30 06:44:14)

Mr. Flatley, I am the co owner of hockey resume.com. One of the players at our camp Tyler Donati you will probably see at Ottawa Senators camp for a second year in a row. And we had a highly touted NCAA division player who has been contact by a few NHL teams skate at the camp. Just a note for you, we had 13 players who were at the camp would have offers on the table.Three of those 13 you will likely see in the AHL this season, they have AHL invites and ECHL offers on the table. One player turned down ECHL opportunitys to play for more money in the LNAH. If you dont know anything about the minor leagues, theres guys who made $1500 a week last season and more in the LNAH. So before you make a comment that the camp is a joke please know what you are speaking about first.

Flyer guy 16 Posted
(2009-04-30 06:40:24)

Angelo, seek help. Nobody cares that the Habs used to be really good, a really long time ago. There is no grand plot to keep your precious team down. Pat Flatly, you sound bitter. The reason player go through all of what you listed is the same reason guys like me play in beer leagues. They love the game, have loved it their entire life and always will. Once they have find out they can't make a living at it(I don't blame anyone who wants to play hockey for a living at any level) they can then settle into the beer leagues satisfied that they tried their best. Is that so hard to understand?

Jack Adams Posted
(2009-04-30 06:40:21)

Yeah, and when the Adams is given out for the best dramatic performance expressing disbelief that a penalty has been called on his team (or not called on the opposing team) I'm sure that Guy Carb will be winning it year in and year out.

IMB Posted
(2009-04-30 06:40:18)

As a lifelong habs fan, I was dissappointed to see Carboneau not win the Jack Adams, he did a great job with a team that was slated to finish 13th in the conference, and took them to the top. However, that being said, I became a huge Capitals fan this season. I watched them any time I could and they never disappointed. Green, Ovy, Backstrum, et co. put on an amzing show. Even when Ovy lit up the habs for 4 goals that night, I couldnt be mad because it was such an exiting game. Boudrau did an amazing job with this club and deserved to win the Jack Adams...

CapsFan Posted
(2009-04-30 06:40:05)

You know what, you Habs fans are right. Why give the Jack Adams to someone who took the second-to-worst team in the Southeast Division in the middle of the season to a division title and their first playoff berth in five years, when you can give it to someone who coached the same team all year, brought that team to the playoffs for another year, but then got pulverized in the second round because they put too much emphasis on their rookie? Looks like the league made the wrong decision...yeah right. Are you serious? It wasn't just adding some good players (by the way you left out Cooke), but the fact that the team was willing to play for Boudreau. In Hanlon's last game, the Caps lost 5-1 to the Thrashers. It was evident that the team was no longer going to play for him when Nylander took the puck to the blue line, dropped it off and turned around for a line change; it was even speculated Olie let in a couple. Boudreau's first game, on the other hand, you could tell that there was some passion there; that the guys wanted to play. So what's so special about Boudreau? Why did, and still does, he deserve the Jack Adams? Because he did the impossible and brought hockey back to Washington. That's why.

Flyerfan52 Posted
(2009-04-30 06:40:02)

"Pat Flatley", obviously you haven't ever played hockey at any high level. The "Dream" never dies. I hope you run into the REAL Pat Flatley & tell him you opinions. Loser!!

Pat Flatley Posted
(2009-04-30 06:40:00)

That free agent camp is a joke if you cant make a team in the East Coast Hockey league give up stay with your local beer leagues. The central hockey league and the southern professinal league are garbage. How can anyone play for 400 bucks a week. In front of what a few hundred people in Alabama or maybe some other dirt merchant state. THE quality of hockey is lousy and no one could care less about these leagues. I cant stand hearing wanna be players tell me there professional hockey players and they tell me they play for the Wichata thunder of the channel cats or some other retarted name.

Brian Kemp Posted
(2009-04-30 06:39:59)

Boudreau deserved to win the Adams. The team was heading for a lottery pick without him, and with him, they won the Southeast. They had a better than winning average with him. Stop with the whining about Carbonneau, Stevens, or even Trotz. All of those guys (and Mike Babcock, in my opinion) deserved consideration, but the right guy won. Enough already, move on.

Flyerfan52 Posted
(2009-04-30 06:39:59)

I'll never say anything bad about the Canadiens. Their fans however? Eli, you forgot to mention Mike Green. I really think he belongs on Team Canada in 2010. He's going to be/is a great d-man.

Eli Posted
(2009-04-30 06:39:54)

Angelo, If we're going to point out that Price had no NHL experience, we might as well point out that Huet was the presumptive BACKUP to someone with no NHL experience for most of the season, and was thrown away by his team after getting blown out by a weak team called the "Capitals." We could also point out that Price totally crushed Boudreau's bears last spring in the finals, or we could just say that Boudreau and Carboneau each got great results out of good teams and both deserved the honor and respect they received. Of course, I don't know many people who are upset at what an awesome tradition of hockey has been built in Montreal. I personally am slightly more proud to have attended a game in the old Forum than I am to cover the Capitals for a blog that gets over a million hits per month. Of course, that doesn't get me a vote towards the Adams, but you could still keep it in mind next time you think everybody hates the Habs. I think most people love them in the same breath and with the same thought that they love hockey, because the two are practically synonymous. Still, in rare years when the Habs don't win the Stanley Cup, it's nice to see some of the trophies making the rounds to some warm-weather destinations. Frankly, I think the key to the Caps successful season, the most overlooked guy who turned it around for them was Nick Backstrom, who had emerged as a top contributor just before Boudreau came along and figured out how to utilize him. The other keys were Tom Poti and John Erskine, who both played better defensively than ever before. There's a lot of credit to go around. I think the scheduler also had in mind almost exactly what happened, what with a difficult opening schedule that started out with a lot of back to back games against tough teams and an easy closing schedule. In their last ten games they played almost all teams from the Southeast and twice in the season's final week the Caps played against teams that had played the night before. I don't think anybody could have scripted for just how dramatic the comeback was, but even Scott Burnside picked the Caps last summer to surprise the hockey world, gradually gel as a team and make the playoffs. Of course, Burnside expected, if I recall, that the catalyst would be the chemistry between Ovechkin and Nylander...

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