San Jose Sharks head coach Bob Boughner (right) and assistant coach John Madden (left) talks to the team on Sun Nov 28, 2021 against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center in Chicago. The Sharks fired Boughner and his assistant coaches on Fri Jul 1, 2022 no replacements have been disclosed yet. (AP News file photo)
By Mary Walsh
The San Jose Sharks have parted ways with Head Coach Bob Boughner and most of the coaching staff. The announcement came on Thursday, a week before the NHL draft begins. The Sharks announcement read, in part:
“Interim General Manager Joe Will announced today that team has relieved Head Coach Bob Boughner, Assistant Coaches John Madden and John MacLean, and Assistant video Coach, Dan Darrow of their responsibilities.”
No replacements have been named at this time, just as no replacement for Doug Wilson has been named yet. The Sharks announcement continued, saying:
“it has become apparent that the organization is in the process of an evolution,” said Will. “The bottom line is we have missed the playoffs for the past three seasons, which isn’t acceptable to our owner, our organization, or to our fans. As part of this evolution and evaluation, we felt it was in the best interest of the club to allow the next Sharks general manager to have full autonomy related to the make-up of the on-ice coaching staff moving ahead.”
It would be difficult to argue with this logic, but it is also difficult to ignore the timing. With no coaching staff and only an acting General Manager, the team appears deep in limbo with the 2022 draft fast approaching.
The Sharks concluded their announcement by thanking the coaching staff and recognizing that they worked hard despite unusual challenges that they faced with the team. They concluded by saying: “This change is not an indictment of their performance as much as it is a recognition of the complete organizational reset that we feel is in the best interest of the team at this point.”
The draft will start on July 7.
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