We knew of fired Bruce Boudreau, but what makes new Canucks coach Rick Tocchet tick?

As a player and coach, Bruce Boudreau always believed in the power of positive thinking.

In his glass-half-full world, a better day was always around the corner for the affable bench boss, no matter what he was enduring in his professional career.

However, Boudreau had also known for days, weeks and even months that dark clouds were gathering and that he was a lame-duck head coach of the Vancouver Canucks.

Constant scrutiny from management over structure and systems escalated in November and it became a matter of when he would be let go in the awkward option year of his short tenure.

With no contract security or confidence from the hockey operations department, his official departure Sunday was also a precursor to Rick Tocchet to being named his successor as the 21st bench boss in franchise history. He will be joined by Adam Foote as an assistant coach and Sergei Gonchar as a defensive development coach. Assistant coach Trent Cull was not retained.