LATEST | Bruce Boudreau comments on Nils Hoglander's breakthrough: Diamond in the making

There have been many hard feelings regarding the Bruce Boudreau fiasco that came down just over a year ago. Looking back, it's hard to say that it wasn't the right choice, as the Canucks have been exceeding all expectations ever since Rick Tocchet set foot in Vancouver.

It was an emotional stretch for Boudreau, but the experienced head coach was true to himself and spoke only kind words for the players, the team's fans, and the city. Boudreau helped many up-and-coming players; Elias Pettersson bloomed when he took over from Travis Green.

Nils Hoglander is one of the team's most intriguing forwards. Most of us had been impatiently waiting for his break-out season; the plane has finally departed the airport. The former Canucks head coach was on Donnie and Dhali earlier and was asked to comment on his development and his emergence as a terrific offensive threat for the Canucks:





There's a lot more developing and learning for Hoglander. The Swede is making a statement regarding his place on the Canucks' line-up. Over the weekend, he scored his 20th five-on-five goal of the season, placing him amongst the NHL's very best. ''Hogs'' now has 20 goals and 31 points over 64 games, all while having a $1.1M cap hit. Overall, an excellent signing for the team's management during these tough salary cap times.