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 of the National Hockey Association (NHA) and National Hockey League (NHL) between 1915 and 1932. In 1921, he became the first defenceman to record a hat-trick in an NHL playoff game.
Personal life
Georges was born in Ottawa, Ontario, to Tom Boucher and Annie Carroll. His paternal grandfather, Antoine Boucher, was French while his other grandparents were of Irish descent. His father played rugby football for Ottawa College and for the Ottawa Rough Riders, winning the Canadian championship in 1894, 1896, 1897 and 1901.
His younger brothers Billy, Bob and Frank also became professional ice hockey players. There were two other brothers, Carroll and Joseph, and two sisters, Irene and Lily.
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. He was again discharged, as a medical exam found him to have mitral regurgitation, making Boucher unfit to be a soldier.
His son, Frank Boucher, was the head coach of Canada's 1948 Olympic gold medal-winning ice hockey team – the Ottawa RCAF Flyers.
Hockey career 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.
He played as an amateur with the Ottawa Aberdeens, and the New Edinburghs and Royal Canadians of the Ottawa City Hockey League.
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.
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 coached the Ottawa Senators of the Quebec Hockey League, winning the Allan Cup in 1949.
He suffered from throat cancer for six years and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1960, three weeks before he died.
Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs 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 National Hockey League Team Year Regular season Postseason G W L T Pts Division rank ResultMontreal Maroons1930-3112651(46)3rd in CanadianLost in league quarter-finals (1-8 vs. NYR)Ottawa Senators1933-344813296325th in CanadianDid not qualifySt. Louis Eagles1934-35359206(28)5th in CanadianDid not qualifyBoston Bruins1949-5070223216605th in NHLDid not qualifyNHL totals165508629129 0-2 (0.000)
Canadian-American Hockey League Team Year Regular season Postseason G W L T Pts Division rank ResultBoston Cubs1932-334821189513rd in CAHLWon in league semi-finals (2-0 vs. PRO) Won Fontaine Cup (3-2 vs. PHI)Springfield Indians1935-364821225473rd in CAHLLost in league semi-finals (1-2 vs. PRO)CAHL totals9642401498 6-4 (0.600 - 1 Fontaine Cup)
International-American Hockey League Team Year Regular season Postseason G W L T Pts Division rank ResultSpringfield Indians1936-374822179532nd in EastWon in division semi-finals (2-1 vs. PRO) Lost in division finals (0-2 vs. PHI)Springfield Indians1937-384810308284th in EastDid not qualifyIAHL totals9632471781 2-3 (0.400)
Quebec Provincial Hockey League Team Year Regular season Postseason G W L T Pts Division rank ResultQuebec Castors1939-404113253298th in QPHLDid not qualifyQPHL totals411325329 0-0 (0.000)
Quebec Senior Hockey League Team Year Regular season Postseason G W L T Pts Division rank ResultOttawa Senators1946-474026104561st in QSHLWon league semi-finals (3-1 vs. SF) Lost league finals (2-4-1 vs. MTL)Ottawa Senators1947-484835112721st in QSHLWon 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 totals8861216128 19-16-2 (0.541)
NHL Records (1) Most goals, defenceman, playoff game: 3 (tied with 10 other players) on March 10, 1921
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