Bruce Boudreau reveals secret to beating Maple Leafs

Last season was anything but a success for head coach Bruce Boudreau and the Vancouver Canucks, who faced multiple on and off-ice issues combined with internal strife with the players and management. President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford announced that the team was in need of "major surgery", and one of the parts of the operation was moving on from Boudreau in a very ugly and public manner that justifiably drew the wrath of fans and pundits. 

The Canucks have since rebounded in a huge way, enjoying the 2nd overall spot in the Western Conference under head coach Rick Tocchet and helping to put the bad taste of last year out of their mouths. 

Meanwhile, Boudreau has yet to return to coaching in the NHL, though he did lead Team Canada at the 2023 Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland. 

The former NHL bench boss was a guest on TSN’s Trade Centre on Friday, and he offered his thoughts on exactly how whomever the Toronto Maple Leafs play in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs can find success - by neutralizing the scorching red hot goal scoring forward Auston Matthews. 

“Stop Matthews and you stop the Leafs,” Boudreau declared. “The others are good, but he’s like the head of the snake.”

The "others" whom Boudreau was likely referring to were the other three members of the Leafs "Core 4" that include John Tavares, William Nylander and Mitch Marner. 

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