Brian "Boosh" Boucher

Birthdate:2 January 1977
Hometown:Woonsocket, RI
Height:6'2
Weight:180 lbs
Sweater Number:33
Position:Goaltender
Drafted:Selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1st round (22nd overall) of the 1995 NHL entry draft.
Marital Status:Married

Career Notes

• 1994-95:Drafted by Philadelphia
• 1995-96:Played for the Tri-City Americans of WHL.
• 1996-97:Led US to silver medal at the World Jrs. Named Top goalie of World Jrs. Named top goalie of WHL.
• 1997-98:Backup goalie with the Phantoms. Wins a CCalder Cup sitting on the bench behind Neil Little.
• 1998-99:Missed time with knee injuries. Starting goalie for Phantoms in the playoffs, eliminated in 2nd round.
• 1999-2000:Rookie season in NHL. Leads all NHL netminders with 1.91 GAA, lowest for rookie since 1950-51. Wins starting job from John Vanbiesbrouck.
• 2000-01:Loses starting job to Roman Cechmanek.
• 2001-02:Named NHL's player of the week for the period ending November 4, 2001. Records back-to-back shutouts against the Capitals and Penguins on 10/30 and 10/31, the first Flyer goalie to achieve such a feat.

Profile

It's taken a long time for Brian Boucher to get the credit he deserves. Growing up Woonsocket, he wasn't even the biggest prospect around--one of his best friends was Bryan Berard, who went 1st overall the year Boucher went 22nd overall. In juniors, he played well for a mediocre team, but end of the year honors mostly went to Marc Denis. At the World Jr. Championship in 1997, he backstopped the US team to a silver medal finish (their best ever) but lost a 1 goal game in the final. When the Phantoms won the cup, he was the backup. When he was the Phantoms starter, he almost lost his job to Jean-Marc Pelletier and knee injuries. Now look how things have changed.

Boosh, as the fans affectionately call him, is the best story of the NHL playoffs. There was little buzz for him in training camp--it went to Pelletier and Maxime Ouellet. Getting very few starts early on due to the Flyers poor start, Boucher began to shine, getting increasingly more starts after the All-Star break. His fine play down the stretch helped the Flyers win the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference--and won him the uncomfortable job of being a rookie starting goalie in the NHL's "second season." His 20 wins and league-leading GAA (1.91) were a sign of things to come.

Boucher, however, must have icewater in his veins. He outplayed Dominik Hasek in the first round and recovered from an 0-2 deficit against Jaromir Jagr in the second round. Time after time, Boucher has made the stops that Vanbiesbrouck, Burke, Snow, and Hextall could not make before him. He has an uncanny knack for being unflappable--and has only lost once in consecutive games. We'll see how far he can take the Flyers now.

Pictures

• Boush makes a save on a Hab (10/27/01).
• Boush makes a sliding save.
• Uh-oh. Boosh looks over his shoulder.
• The snow-angel save agains the Devils (Playoffs 2000).
• Yet another shot of the same save (Playoffs 2000).
• Another shot of the same save (Playoffs 2000).
• Boucher stops a shot by Jay Pandolfo (Playoffs 2000).

Links

• Mount goalie feeling a draft: An article from just before the 1995 draft.
• Regal Tender: An article from The Morning Call in Allentown.
• Different Paths: An article on Boucher and his childhood friend, Bryan Berard.
• This season, Boucher doesn't carry blame: By Rob Parent, for ESPN.com
• Walking the tightrope: An article from NHL.com.
• Boucher getting Olympic attention: By Wayne Fish

>Return to the main page::Return to top of this page

Recent News
Player Profiles
Editorials
Prospect Reports
In the Press
Picture Archive
Links
Sign guestbook
View guestbook
Contact the webmaster

Flyertown is dedicated to my favorite Flyers, Simon Gagné and John LeClair.

Off-site links open in new browser windows.

Copyright 1997-2002 to the webmaster.

Visit my personal homepage

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws