John Georges "Buck" Boucher (August 19, 1895 – October 17, 1960) was a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

who played for the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...

Montreal Maroons The Montreal Maroons (officially the Montreal Professional Hockey Club) were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL). They played in the NHL from 1924–25 NHL season, 1924 to 1937–38 NHL season, 1938, winning the Sta ...

, and

Chicago Black Hawks Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

of the

National Hockey Association The National Hockey Association (NHA), initially the National Hockey Association of Canada Limited, was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the direct predecessor of today's National Hockey Leagu ...

(NHA) and

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) between 1915 and 1932. In 1921, he became the first defenceman to record a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in an NHL playoff game.

Personal life

Georges was born in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, 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 The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded on September 19, 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup cham ...

, winning the Canadian championship in 1894, 1896, 1897 and 1901. His younger brothers

Billy Billy may refer to: * Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name) * Billy (surname), a surname (and list of people with the surname) Animals * Billy (dog), a dog breed * Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945 * 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 Mitral regurgitation (MR), also known as mitral insufficiency or mitral incompetence, is a form of valvular heart disease in which the mitral valve is insufficient and does not close properly when the heart pumps out blood. Section: Valvular He ...

, 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

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

. After three years of football, he switched to hockey. He played as an amateur with the

Ottawa Aberdeens The Ottawa Aberdeens (or Aberdeen Hockey Club) were an amateur ice hockey team from Ottawa that played in various junior, intermediate and senior amateur leagues from the 1890s to the 1910s. Between 1915–1919 the club figured in the Ottawa City ...

, 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 Edward George Gerard (February22, 1890August7, 1937) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach, and manager. Born in Ottawa, Ontario, he played for 10 seasons for his hometown Ottawa Senators. He spent the first three years of his p ...

, Horrace Merrill,

Sprague Cleghorn Henry William Sprague "Peg" Cleghorn (March 11, 1890 – July 12, 1956), also known as "The Big Train", was a Canadian professional ice hockey player from Westmount, Quebec who played 17 professional seasons between 1911 and 1929 for the Renfrew ...

, Lionel Hitchman and

King Clancy Francis Michael "King" Clancy (February 25, 1902 – November 8, 1986) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, referee, coach and executive. Clancy played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Ottawa Senators and Toronto ...

. 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 The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

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

of the

Quebec Hockey League The Quebec Senior Hockey League (QSHL) was an ice hockey league that operated from 1941 to 1959, based in Quebec, Canada. The league played senior ice hockey under the jurisdiction of the Quebec Amateur Hockey Association until 1953, when it becam ...

, winning the

Allan Cup The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the senior ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. It was most recently won by the Wentworth Gryphins ...

in 1949. He suffered from

throat cancer Head and neck cancer is a general term encompassing multiple cancers that can develop in the head and neck region. These include cancers of the mouth, tongue, gums and lips ( oral cancer), voice box ( laryngeal), throat ( nasopharyngeal, orophar ...

for six years and was inducted into the

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

in 1960, three weeks before he died.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Coaching record

National Hockey League

Canadian-American Hockey League

International-American Hockey League

Quebec Provincial Hockey League

Quebec Senior Hockey League

NHL Records (1)

* Most goals, defenceman, playoff game: 3 (tied with 10 other players) on March 10, 1921https://records.nhl.com/records/playoff-skater-records/scoring-by-a-defenseman/most-goals-defenseman-one-game-playoff

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boucher, Georges 1895 births 1960 deaths Boston Bruins coaches Boston Cubs players Canadian football running backs Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey defencemen Chicago Blackhawks players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Deaths from esophageal cancer Franco-Ontarian people Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Ice hockey people from Ottawa Montreal Maroons players Ottawa Rough Riders players Ottawa Senators (1917) players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Ottawa Senators (NHA) players Players of Canadian football from Ontario Stanley Cup champions