Boughner will return as Sharks coach

Bob Boughner will return as coach of the San Jose Sharks.

Boughner, an assistant, took over as coach after Peter DeBoer was fired Dec. 11. San Jose was 14-20-3 under Boughner and did not qualify for the NHL postseason. The Sharks were 29-36-5 (.450 points percentage), last in the Western Conference, when the season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.
"I'm very excited about the opportunity to return to the San Jose Sharks organization as head coach," Boughner said Tuesday. "I want to thank (owner) Hasso Plattner and (general manager) Doug Wilson for their trust in me. Last year was a difficult season for everyone but I think we learned a lot about ourselves as a group and we made some positive strides over the second half of the year. I've been in contact with many of our players over the break and, as a coaching staff, we are going to make it clear that our team is going compete every night, play hard and be a tight group on and off the ice."

The Sharks lost defenseman Erik Karlsson and forwards Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture to injury after Boughner took over and were 3-8-1 in their final 12 games.
"Bob did a tremendous job last season, getting our group back to playing with an identity and structure that we need in order to be successful," Wilson said. "We saw a marked improvement in our play in several key areas during the second half of the season, before losing some key players to injury."
Boughner coached the Florida Panthers for two seasons before being fired after last season and replaced by Joel Quenneville.
The 49-year-old is 94-82-25 as an NHL coach, with no Stanley Cup Playoff games.