Sharks name Boughner full-time head coach
Boughner took over for DeBoer in December
What had been expected for weeks — or months — finally became official Tuesday as the San Jose Sharks named Bob Boughner their full-time head coach.
Boughner, 49, is the ninth full-time head coach in Sharks history.
The Sharks on Tuesday also named Rocky Thompson as associate coach and John Madden as assistant coach. Thompson, 43, will be responsible for the defensemen and power play and Madden, 47, will oversee the team’s forwards and penalty kill.
“Bob did a tremendous job
last season, getting our group back to playing with an identity and structure that we need in order to be successful,” Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said in a statement. “We saw a marked improvement in our play in several key areas during the second half of the season, before losing some key players to injury.
“We’re also very pleased to add Rocky and John to our staff. Both come with a wealth of experience, both in playing the game and as teachers and leaders. With a healthy and motivated group of players, we are confident that this staff will do a terrific job leading our group in the coming years.”
Evgeni Nabokov will return as the team’s goaltending coach, the team announced, and Dan Darrow will remain in his current role of video coach. Charlie Townsend will continue to serve as hockey analyst/assistant to the NHL coaching staff.
Mike Ricci and Roy Sommer, who both spent the final
37 games of the 201920 season as assistants under Boughner, go back to familiar roles. Ricci will serve as NHL development coach and Sommer will return to be the head coach of the Barracuda.
Boughner had been the Sharks’ interim coach since Dec. 11 when Pete DeBoer and three members of his staff were fired by the organization.
“I’m very excited about the opportunity to return to the San Jose Sharks organization as head coach,” Boughner
said in a statement. “I want to thank Hasso Plattner and Doug Wilson for their trust in me. Last year was a difficult season for everyone but I think we learned a lot about ourselves as a group and we made some positive strides over the second half of the year.
“I’ve been in contact with many of our players over the break and, as a coaching staff, we are going to make it clear that our team is going compete every night, play hard and be a tight group on and off
the ice.”
The Sharks went 14-20-3 under Boughner before the NHL paused its season on March 12. The Sharks finished the season with a 2936-5 record and 63 points, third-fewest in the league. The Sharks were not part of the NHL’s postseason and have not played or practiced as a team since March.
General manager Doug Wilson said earlier this year that he felt Boughner had the upper hand in terms of becoming the fulltime head coach. Boughner was already familiar with the Sharks’ personnel and had prior experience as a head coach when he led the Florida Panthers from 2017 to 2019, going 80-62-22.
Boughner is the latest NHL coach to have the interim tag removed from his title. Dean Evason was given the Minnesota Wild’s full-time coach in July and Geoff Ward was named the Calgary Flames’ full-time coach earlier this month.
It is also apparent that Rick Bowness will remain the Dallas Stars’ head coach. Bowness, who took over for the fired Jim Montgomery in December, has the Stars in the Stanley Cup Final.