Six days shy of his second anniversary as coach of the San Diego Gulls, Kevin Dineen has been replaced by Joel Bouchard.
The Anaheim Ducks announced the change for their primary development team Friday morning. Bouchard, 47, is the third coach in the history of this iteration of the Gulls; Dineen was preceded by Dallas Eakins, who is now head coach of the Ducks.
“We want to thank Kevin Dineen for all he contributed the last two seasons. He was key in maintaining a winning environment in San Diego, including a difficult season during the pandemic,” said Ducks Executive Vice President/General Manager Bob Murray in a statement.
“The opportunity to bring in Joel Bouchard as head coach of our American Hockey League club was something that we could not up. Joel has a strong track record coaching and developing players at the professional, junior and international level. This is the primary focus for us, and Joel fits the bill perfectly.”
A native of Montreal, Bouchard coached the Canadiens’ AHL club in Laval the past three seasons, compiling an 83-67-24 record. Laval won the Canadian Division with a 23-9-4 record in 2020-21, recording the second-highest points percentage in the AHL (.694).
Before going to Laval, Bouchard spent seven seasons (2011-18) as general manager of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). He also was the team’s head coach from 2014-18 and posted a 160-80-32 record, including appearances in the QMJHL President Cup Finals in 2017 and 2018.
As a player, Bouchard was a defenseman for Calgary, Nashville, Dallas, Phoenix, New Jersey, the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh and the New York Islanders, appearing in 364 career games. He was part of Canada’s gold medal-winning teams at the 1997 World Championship and the World Junior Championships in 1993 and 1994.
Dineen, 57, coached 101 games for the Gulls the past two seasons, going 56-36-7-2. San Diego was 30-19-6-2 when the 2019-20 season was canceled and then went 26-17-1 in last year’s shortened season.
