The least we can say is that former Ottawa Senators forward Chris Neil did not like playing under head coach Guy Boucher.
While on the ‘Cam & Strick podcast’, the 43-year-old discussed when he retired after the 2016-17 campaign.
“I had the option [de revenir]but despite the way things went in my last year with Guy Boucher as coach – we didn’t get along – they [les Sénateurs] clearly told me that they would like me back. However, I didn’t want to be sidelined for 25 games, play one game and then return to the catwalk for 20 games. I didn’t want that,” Neil said.
«[Le Canadien de] Montreal was very interested. I would have played against the Senators often and I could have tried to reach Boucher with the puck when he would have directed from the bench,” he then added with a laugh.
The 2016-2017 season was the first of three seasons in which Boucher managed the “Sens”. That year, Neil played 53 games and only had four points.
The former player also claimed that the pilot was not the master on board.
“It was a weird dynamic. We had a great group of guys in our locker room. He would come in to give his speeches before games and then a veteran would get up and say, ‘no, that’s pretty much how we’re going to do it’. He didn’t have the locker room, it was the players who had it. It was good, because we gave each other responsibilities.