Lightning Get Their Guy; Hire Boucher As New Head Coach

The Tampa Bay Lightning held a press conference today to announce the hiring of 2009-2010 American Hockey League Coach of the Year, Guy Boucher.  Recently hired General Manager Steve Yzerman was present to make the announcement touting Boucher's intelligence and expressing total confidence in the hiring.  Boucher, age 38, will be the youngest Head Coach in the NHL after posting an impressive 52 win season behind the bench in AHL Hamilton.

During the Q & A session of the press conference, Boucher stressed the importance of shared values with Yzerman and the need to install the proper culture within the organization.  Despite his relatively young age as a coach, Boucher is highly regarded in hockey circles for his cerebral approach to the game.  Having earned a Masters degree in Psychology at University of Montreal, Boucher is the type of coach that communicates with players based on their individual needs.  He's also known for his unconventional coaching systems typically employing an aggressive offensive and defensive forecheck.

Boucher reportedly signed a four year contract with the Lightning.  It remains to be seen who the assistant coaches are that he will be surrounding him with, but Yzerman stated that his newly hired coach would be provided with everything he needs to be successful.

So, what do hockey fans think?  First Yzerman, then Verbeek, now Boucher.  Is new owner Jeff Vinik making the right moves to turn around the Bolts?  Certainly seems at least a 100 times more credible than the "dearly departed" OK Hockey ownership group who thought Lightning fans would be impressed with the laughable hiring of Barry Melrose.