Boughner appears set to be named Panthers head coach
Florida Panthers alternate captain and Belle River, Ont., native Aaron Ekblad would love to see Windsor, Ont., native Bob Boughner as the NHL team’s next head coach.
Multiple sources are reporting that Boughner, who is also president of the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League, will be named the 15th head coach in the history of the Panthers as early as Monday.
“If the rumours are true, I’d be very excited,” the 21-yearold Ekblad said on Sunday.
Boughner, 46, has spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach for the San Jose Sharks under head coach and former Spitfire Peter DeBoer. The Panthers were given permission in early May by the Sharks to interview Boughner for its vacant head coaching position.
The Panthers fired head coach Gerard Gallant in November and replaced him with Tom Rowe on an interim basis, but he was not retained.
Florida had the best record in the NHL’s Eastern Conference in 2015-16 with a 4726-9 record for 103 points, but missed the playoffs this season after finishing with a 35-36-11 record for 81 points.
When contacted on Sunday, Boughner would offer nothing on the report.
“No comment,” Boughner said.
Boughner acknowledged he interviewed for the Florida job and it is also believed he was a candidate for the Buffalo Sabres job. He was also believed to have been a candidate for the vacant head coaching job last season with the Colorado Avalanche.
Boughner retired from the NHL in 2006 after 12 seasons as a player to purchase the Spitfires with Warren Rychel and Peter Dobrich.
With no head coaching experience, he took over behind the Windsor bench was twice named Ontario Hockey League and Canadian Hockey League coach of the year while guiding the Spitfires to back-to-back Memorial Cup titles in 2009 and 2010 before leaving the team to join the Columbus Blue Jackets for the 2010-11 season.
The winningest coach in franchise history, Boughner returned as head coach of the Spitfires in 2011-12 and spent another four seasons with the team before joining DeBoer’s staff.
Boughner handled San Jose’s defence and, in his first season, helped the Sharks reach the Stanley Cup final with club compiling a regular-season record on 92-599-4 in his two seasons for a .601 winning percentage. As well, defenceman Brent Burns has twice been nominated for the Norris Trophy as league’s best defenceman.
“I’ve known Bob Boughner for a long time,” Ekblad said. “From what I know, players love to be coached by him and he’s been on winning teams.”