Sharks assistant coach Bob Boughner is a leading candidate to take over the head coaching job in Colorado. According to the Denver Post, Boughner and Chicago Blackhawks assistant Kevin Dineen "have emerged as major candidates in the Avalanche's search for a head coach to succeed Patrick Roy."
Roy resigned from the Avalanche after three seasons on August 11.
Boughner, 45, joined the Sharks as part of coach Pete DeBoer's staff last summer. He was primarily in charge of the team's defense and its penalty kill, and defenseman Brent Burns gave Boughner credit for helping him improve his game. Burns finished third in voting for the Norris Trophy.
"With [DeBoer] coming in and having [Boughner] – he's been huge behind the bench, during the game, after the games going through clips and stuff. It's just been a huge help," Burns said in late April.
Prior to joining the Sharks, Boughner was the head coach of the OHL's Windsor Spitfires for eight seasons, leading them to Memorial Cup championships in 2009 and 2010. He was named as the OHL/CHL Coach of the Year in 2008 and 2009, and was an assistant coach with the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets in 2010-11.
At the time he was hired by the Sharks on July 2, 2015, DeBoer said: "He had a great career as an NHL player but also didn't have any problem going back to juniors to hone his coaching ability. He has a great teaching ability from working with younger players in juniors, and we're very fortunate that he was available because he could have been working in this League a long time ago if he wanted to."
Boughner played 630 games over 10 NHL seasons as a defenseman with the Sabres, Predators, Penguins, Flames, Hurricanes and Avalanche, wrapping up his career in Colorado for the final two seasons in 2003-04 and 2005-06 as a teammate of current general manager Joe Sakic.
