Canucks fan sends Boudreau custom ‘Bruce, there it is’ jersey

Bruce Boudreau said his time in Vancouver “will go down in my memory books” and now he will have a tangible memory in his home.

Bruce Boudreau will have a piece of the Vancouver Canucks at home after a Canucks fan sent him a custom “Bruce, There It Is” jersey.

Boudreau may only have been the Vancouver Canucks head coach for a little over 13 months, but he had a unique impact on Canucks fans.

Typically, when an NHL coach is fired, fans are all too willing to throw that coach out the door, as it usually happens after an extended period of undershooting. In fact, it’s usually the fans who call for the coach to be fired in the first place.

Not this time.

Canucks fans fell in love with Boudreau in part because he began his Vancouver coaching streak on a seven-game winning streak and nine-game points streak, but also because of his friendly and gregarious personality. He cracked jokes in post-game interviews, spoke happily about his love for professional wrestling, and was willing to film ridiculous cameo videos for Canucks fans.

Boudreau became so popular so quickly that fans at Canucks games made up a chant just for him: “Bruce, there it is!” to the beat of the ’90s hit “Whoomp! (There it is).”

That led to a Canucks season ticket holder with a passion for jerseys taking on the “Bruce, there is” chant and having his own custom jersey made with the slogan, with the number “15” taking the place of the word “is.” folk song.

The fan calling Chester Ming on Twitter previously caused a stir with a custom “Thanks Jim” jersey as his way of calling for Jim Benning to be fired as Canucks general manager. The “Bruce, there it is” jersey was the good-natured flip side of this jersey.

“I thought it would be a fun ‘positive’ continuation of the ‘Thank you Jim’ jersey,” Chester said. “I originally got it last Christmas during the first seven-game winning streak.”

Chester even got Boudreau’s jersey signed at the final home game of the 2021-22 season, with the Canucks’ cameras capturing the moment.

Although Boudreau initially said he didn’t like the “Bruce, there it is” chant, it was primarily because he didn’t want to divert focus from the players who had a phenomenal run under Boudreau in the 2021-22 season had .

Boudreau especially came to appreciate it towards the end of his time in Vancouver, when fans serenaded him with the chant during his final games as Canucks head coach.

“It’s incredible,” he said. “I’ve only been here a year but it will go down in my memory books, of the 48 years that I’ve played and trained, as the most incredible thing I’ve experienced on a personal level – aside from winning championships of course. It’s very touching.”

After Boudreau’s wife Crystal tweeted a message thanking Vancouver, Chester reached out and wondered if Boudreau wanted the jersey.

“I asked if it would mean anything if I gave them this,” Chester said. “I thought it might mean a lot more to them than it did to me at that point.”

Crystal Boudreau happily accepted the offer and the shirt arrived at their home on Wednesday.

Chester added that the Boudreau planned to frame the jersey to hang in their home. Now, Boudreau will always have a memory of the Canucks fans’ love.