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Georges Boucher

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Georges Boucher
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1960
Born (1895-08-19)August 19, 1895
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Died October 17, 1960(1960-10-17) (aged 65)
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 169 lb (77 kg; 12 st 1 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Ottawa Senators
Montreal Maroons
Chicago Black Hawks
Playing career 1915–1933

John Georges "Buck" Boucher (August 19, 1895 – October 17, 1960) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played for the Ottawa Senators, Montreal Maroons, and Chicago Black Hawks in the National Hockey Association and National Hockey League between 1915 and 1932. Born in Ottawa, Ontario, Buck was one of six brothers. His brothers Frank, Bobby and Billy all played in the NHL.[1] Their father Tom Boucher, played rugby football, winning the Canadian championship in 1894, 1896, 1897 and 1901. Boucher started his professional athletic career in football as halfback for the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League. After three years of football he switched to hockey. In 1921, he became the first defenceman to record a hat trick in an NHL playoff game; no other defenceman has ever surpassed this feat since.

Personal life

[edit]
Georges' father Tom while a rugby football player at Ottawa College in the 1890s.

Georges was one of six sons born to Tom Boucher and Annie Carroll. His paternal grandfather, Antoine Boucher was French while his other grandparents were Irish in descent. His younger brothers Billy, Bob and Frank would also become professional ice hockey players. There were two other brothers, Carroll and Joseph, and two sisters, Irene and Lily. Their father Tom played rugby football, both for Ottawa College and for the Ottawa Rough Riders, winning the Canadian championship in 1894, 1896, 1897 and 1901. On the Ottawa Rough Riders, Tom Boucher was a teammate of Tom "King" Clancy, whose son was the famous hockey player Frank "King" Clancy.

In October 1916 Boucher enlisted with the Canadian military, joining the 207th (Ottawa-Carleton) Battalion, though he was discharged in December that year for unclear reasons. He re-enlisted in May 1917, this time joining the Signal Training Department. However he was again discharged, this time on account of a medical exam finding him to have a mitral regurgitation, or leaky heart, which made Boucher unfit to be a soldier.[2]

Buck's son, Frank Boucher, was the head coach of Canada's 1948 Olympic gold medal-winning ice hockey team – the Ottawa RCAF Flyers.[3][4]

Hockey career

[edit]

He played as an amateur with the Ottawa Aberdeens and the New Edinburghs and Royal Canadians of the Ottawa City Hockey League teams. He started play with the Senators, then of the NHA, in 1915. At the time, he played as a forward.

Boucher would soon switch to play as a defenceman where he would gain fame as an excellent stick handler. He would play with stars such as Eddie Gerard, Horrace Merrill, Sprague Cleghorn, Lionel Hitchman and King Clancy.

Boucher played against his brother Frank in the 1923 Stanley Cup playoffs, which also featured brothers Cy and Corbett Denneny playing against each other. It marked the first time two different sets of brothers faced each other in an NHL or Big Four championship series.[1]

Boucher helped lead the Senators to four Stanley Cup championships between 1920 and 1927. He played in the NHL from 1917 to 1932, scoring 117 goals and 87 recorded assists in 449 games. An extremely tough customer, he also had 838 penalty minutes, including 115 in just 44 games in 1926–27. At his retirement in 1932 he ranked 11th among NHL career points leaders.

He would go on to coach in the NHL in Ottawa, Boston and St. Louis. He would coach the Ottawa Senators of the Quebec Hockey League to the Allan Cup in 1949.[5]

He suffered from throat cancer for six years and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1960, three weeks before he died.[5]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1913–14 Ottawa New Edinburghs IPAHU 5 1 0 1
1914–15 Ottawa New Edinburghs OCHL 15 12 0 12 1 0 0 0
1914–15 Ottawa Royal Canadians OCHL 4 6 0 6 2 2 0 2
1915–16 Montreal La Casquette MCHL 1 1 0 1 0
1915–16 Ottawa Senators NHA 19 9 1 10 62
1916–17 Ottawa Senators NHA 18 10 5 15 27 2 1 0 1 8
1917–18 Ottawa Senators NHL 21 9 8 17 46
1918–19 Ottawa Senators NHL 17 3 2 5 29 5 2 0 2 9
1919–20 Ottawa Senators NHL 22 9 8 17 55
1919–20 Ottawa Senators St-Cup 5 2 0 2 2
1920–21 Ottawa Senators NHL 23 11 8 19 53 2 3 0 3 10
1920–21 Ottawa Senators St-Cup 5 2 0 2 9
1921–22 Ottawa Senators NHL 23 13 12 25 12 2 0 0 0 4
1922–23 Ottawa Senators NHL 24 14 9 23 58 2 0 1 1 2
1922–23 Ottawa Senators St-Cup 6 2 1 3 6
1923–24 Ottawa Senators NHL 21 13 10 23 38 2 0 1 1 4
1924–25 Ottawa Senators NHL 28 15 5 20 95
1925–26 Ottawa Senators NHL 36 8 4 12 64 2 0 0 0 10
1926–27 Ottawa Senators NHL 40 8 3 11 115 6 0 0 0 43
1927–28 Ottawa Senators NHL 43 7 5 12 78 2 0 0 0 4
1928–29 Ottawa Senators NHL 29 3 1 4 60
1928–29 Montreal Maroons NHL 12 1 1 2 10
1929–30 Montreal Maroons NHL 37 2 6 8 50 3 0 0 0 2
1930–31 Montreal Maroons NHL 30 0 0 0 25
1931–32 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 43 1 5 6 30 2 0 1 1 0
1932–33 Boston Cubs Can-Am 9 0 0 0 8
NHA totals 37 19 6 25 89 2 1 0 1 8
NHL totals 449 117 87 204 838 28 5 3 8 88
St-Cup totals 16 6 1 7 17

Coaching record

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National Hockey League

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Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L T Pts Division rank Result
Montreal Maroons 1930-31 12 6 5 1 (46) 3rd in Canadian Lost in league quarter-finals (1-8 vs. NYR)
Ottawa Senators 1933-34 48 13 29 6 32 5th in Canadian Did not qualify
St. Louis Eagles 1934-35 35 9 20 6 (28) 5th in Canadian Did not qualify
Boston Bruins 1949-50 70 22 32 16 60 5th in NHL Did not qualify
NHL totals 165 50 86 29 129 0-2 (0.000)

Canadian-American Hockey League

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Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L T Pts Division rank Result
Boston Cubs 1932-33 48 21 18 9 51 3rd in CAHL Won in league semi-finals (2-0 vs. PRO)
Won Fontaine Cup (3-2 vs. PHI)
Springfield Indians 1935-36 48 21 22 5 47 3rd in CAHL Lost in league semi-finals (1-2 vs. PRO)
CAHL totals 96 42 40 14 98 6-4 (0.600 - 1 Fontaine Cup)

International-American Hockey League

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Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L T Pts Division rank Result
Springfield Indians 1936-37 48 22 17 9 53 2nd in East Won in division semi-finals (2-1 vs. PRO)
Lost in division finals (0-2 vs. PHI)
Springfield Indians 1937-38 48 10 30 8 28 4th in East Did not qualify
IAHL totals 96 32 47 17 81 2-3 (0.400)

Quebec Provincial Hockey League

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Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L T Pts Division rank Result
Quebec Castors 1939-40 41 13 25 3 29 8th in QPHL Did not qualify
QPHL totals 41 13 25 3 29 0-0 (0.000)

Quebec Senior Hockey League

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Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L T Pts Division rank Result
Ottawa Senators 1946-47 40 26 10 4 56 1st in QSHL Won league semi-finals (3-1 vs. SF)
Lost league finals (2-4-1 vs. MTL)
Ottawa Senators 1947-48 48 35 11 2 72 1st in QSHL Won league semi-finals (4-3 vs. SF)
Won league finals (4-1 vs. QUE)
Won Quebec Senior Playoffs (2-1 vs. VIC)
Won Eastern Canada Allan Cup Playoffs (3-2-1 vs. HAM)
Lost Allan Cup finals (1-4 vs.EDM)
QSHL totals 88 61 21 6 128 19-16-2 (0.541)

NHL Records (1)

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  • Most goals, defenceman, playoff game: 3 (tied with 10 other players) on March 10, 1921[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b McEvoy, Colin (February 9, 2023). "The Ultimate Sibling Rivalry: 8 Sets of Brothers Who Faced Off in Sports Championships". Biography. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  2. ^ MacLeod 2018, p. 134
  3. ^ "Classic Auctions | Hockey Memorabilia and Sports Cards".
  4. ^ "History-1948 Winter". Archived from the original on 2011-06-04.
  5. ^ a b MacLeod 2018, p. 136
  6. ^ https://records.nhl.com/records/playoff-skater-records/scoring-by-a-defenseman/most-goals-defenseman-one-game-playoff

Bibliography

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  • Globe and Mail. Toronto. October 16, 1960.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • MacLeod, Alan Livingstone (2018), From Rinks to Regiments: Hockey Hall-of-Famers and the Great War, Victoria, British Columbia: Heritage House, ISBN 978-1-77203-268-0
[edit]
Preceded by Head Coach of the Ottawa Senators (Original Era)
1933–1934
Succeeded by
Franchise relocates to become St. Louis Eagles
Preceded by Ottawa Senators captain
(Original Era)

192628
Succeeded by
Preceded by Head coach of the Montreal Maroons
1930–31
Succeeded by
Preceded by Head coach of the Boston Bruins
1949–50
Succeeded by