Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey Leauge (KHL) has signed Canadian coach Guy Boucher to a contract through the 2025-26 season, the team has just announced through its official site.
Born on Aug. 3, 1971, in Notre-Dame-du-Lac, Quebec, Boucher began his coaching career in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, later moving to the Drummondville Voltigeurs, where he established himself as a top-tier junior coach. His success caught the attention of the American Hockey League (AHL), and he was named head coach of the Hamilton Bulldogs in 2009. There, Boucher led the team to a division title and was awarded the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL’s coach of the year.
Boucher made his NHL debut as head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2010, introducing his signature 1-3-1 defensive system. In his first season, he guided the Lightning to the Eastern Conference Final. After leaving Tampa in 2013, he coached in Switzerland with SC Bern, before returning to the NHL in 2016 with the Ottawa Senators, where he led the team to within one goal of the Stanley Cup Final in 2017.
Most recently, Boucher was an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but they parted ways last summer. Avangard Omsk is currently in a disappointing ninth place in the KHL’s Eastern Conference, but the team has bounced back recently after the front office shuffled the team’s roster. It is expected that Boucher will land in Omsk and take the reins of the team by mid-December.
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