GALLANT STAYING NORTH

If you listen closely, you can probably hear it. What you’ll hear is a collective sigh of relief from Saint John Sea Dogs fans as the “Gerard Gallant to Tampa Bay” rumours were halted this afternoon.

Former Drummondville Voltigeurs head coach Guy Boucher was hired by the Lightning today, ending a few weeks of rumours that the Sea Dogs bench boss was heading south.

The 38-year old Boucher, who was the head coach of the Hamilton Bulldogs, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens, is now the youngest coach in the league.

"Guy is an extremely intelligent, educated and knowledgeable hockey person who has been a part of successful programs at every level he's coached at, both as a head coach and an assistant," said Steve Yzerman, Tampa Bay’s general manager and good friend of Gallant to TSN.ca.

Gallant was considered to be strong a candidate for the position by many publications. His friendship with Yzerman and his expertise with young players was said to make him a “front-runner” for the job.

“More than one NHL source suggests Yzerman will lean on a familiar quantity he can trust, and Gallant fits that requirement to a T. Consider him the front-runner,” said Allan Muir of Sports Illustrated on June 1.

The news of Gallant possibly departing Saint John began in late May after Yzerman was hired by the Bolts to rebuild the squad. But although Gallant has proven he can have success with young skaters, Boucher has much more experience at the junior level.

Gallant a Summerside, Prince Edward Island native has coaching experience with both the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Islanders of the NHL.

A rookie coach this past year with Saint John, Gallant took the Sea Dogs to within two wins of the President’s Cup. He was named both QMJHL and CHL Coach of the Year after the leading the Dogs to a franchise record 53 regular season wins.

"When you win individual awards, especially when you're a coach, it's all about your team," said Gallant in a phone interview Sunday to the Journal Pioneer. "We've had a great season and the team has done a very good job.

"It's always fun to get recognized, but it's more about what our team did and it's a team award for me."

“Turk” also credits associate coach and director of hockey operations Mike Kelly for his success.

"The way we did it was Mike and I shared the duties," said Gallant, who also praised ownership for providing staff with all the tools to build a championship-calibre team. "Anything he (Kelly) wanted to do we talked about it, and anything I wanted to do as a coaching staff we talked about it.

"We basically sat there during the day when the kids were in school, threw things at each other and chatted about them. It was fun and it worked out real well."

- With files from TSN.ca