Good-bye and good luck, Bruce Boudreau

The Caps fired their coach, Bruce Boudreau, today. I liked Bruce. In his first year as coach he led a pretty pathetic team into the playoffs. And it was a gritty, fight-to-the-bitter-end, slide in backwards entry into that last playoff spot. In their run to the playoffs, when the team won, there was no one more excited than Boudreau. The sight of him jumping up and down was hilarious but I loved his enthusiasm. That first year he won the Jack Adams award for coach of the year. Just recently, as in the last couple of weeks, he got his 200th NHL win. But his players betrayed him. They quit playing. They got tired of him telling them what they were doing wrong and stopped responding to him. When your team quits, what else can you do? You can't fire the team so you fire the coach. I get it. I do. But that doesn't mean I have to like it. Bruce was a great coach. After that first year Bruce's enthusiasm after a win started to wane. He was much more professional, shaking hands with his assistants or maybe just giving them a nod. Just recently, during the current slump, when the team finally pulled out a win, Bruce once again showed that burst of enthusiasm that made me love him. I know that it was probably because he knew a win meant his job was safe for another day but in the end, it all caught up with him. I love my hockey team but right now, I'm really disappointed in them. They cost a good man his job and that makes me pretty angry.

So thank you, Bruce, for giving Washington a team to believe in (the rest of them suck) for the last four years. I know you'll find another coaching job but please, not in the Eastern Conference. Any team you coach will kick our butts.