Rutherford's handling of Boudreau situation makes no sense

Seriously. The Jim Rutherford the hockey world has known for years seemed to go against everything he stands for in the way he fired his coach and found a replacement

Jim Rutherford says he was “too direct and too honest.” But that’s no excuse for treating Bruce Boudreau the way he did.

When you call up and scroll through Jim Rutherford’s management profile on the website eliteprospects.com, it requires more than four full screens to get to the bottom. He took one year off after his playing career before becoming GM of the Windsor Spitfires in the Ontario Hockey League. And with the exception of the 1988-89 and ’ 89-90 seasons, he’s been a hockey executive ever since. He’s the only person in NHL history – Tommy Gorman is the other – to win Stanley Cups as the GM of two different organizations. Gorman actually did it with a mind-boggling four.

And while it’s not as though I’m any expert on the man, I have been dealing with Rutherford on a professional level for the better part of 30 years. In that time, I’ve found him to be honest and straightforward and brimming with integrity. Anyone who has dealt with him, from players to fellow executives to agents, will almost certainly say the same. Along with his success in building Stanley Cup winners, that is why he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019.