Laurie Boschman

Infobox Ice Hockey Player
position = Centre
shoots =
height_ft = 6
height_in = 0
weight_lb = 185
league = Swiss-A
nationality = Canada
birth_date = birth date and age|1960|06|04
birth_place = Major, SK, CAN
career_start = 1979
career_end = 1995
draft = 9th overall
draft_year = 1979
draft_team = Toronto Maple Leafs


image_size = 150px
played_for = Toronto Maple Leafs
Edmonton Oilers
Winnipeg Jets
New Jersey Devils
Ottawa Senators|

Laurie Boschman (born on June 4, 1960 in Major, Saskatchewan, Canada) is a retired professional ice hockey centre who played in the NHL for 14 seasons for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, New Jersey Devils and Ottawa Senators, a team in which he was captain of in his final NHL season.

He currently lives in Stittsville, Ontario, Canada (a part of Ottawa) with his three sons, Brent, Mark and Jeff. His wife, Nancy, died early in 2006.

Playing career

Boschman started his career off with two stellar seasons with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL, where he played on a line with future NHLer's Brian Propp and Ray Allison. Those two seasons with Brandon helped him to get drafted 9th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft, considered by many hockey experts to be the most productive NHL draft of all-time.

Boschman's time in Toronto was not a happy time, as he was publicly ridiculed multiple times and threatened to be sent down to the minors by Leaf's owner Harold Ballard. Ballard also did not like that Boschman became a born-again Christian, saying he became soft as a result. Boschman became so stressed that he missed time during the 1981–82 season because he suffered a stomach ulcer. Boschman was traded to the Edmonton Oilers on March 9, 1982 for Walt Poddubny and Phil Drouillard. He only lasted one year in Edmonton before being traded again, this time to the team that Boschman would define his career with, the Winnipeg Jets.

In his first full season with Winnipeg, he finally lived up to the billing of a first round draft pick by scoring 74 points in 61 games, as well as garnering 234 penalty minutes. Boschman became part of an impressive nucleus in Winnipeg that included stars Dale Hawerchuk, Thomas Steen, David Ellett, Doug Smail, Paul MacLean, and Randy Carlyle. The team's balanced attack was proven during the 1984–85 season when they tied a record with 6 players (including Boschman) scoring at least 30 goals in the regular season. However, even though with the all-star cast, they had to play in the same division as the Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers who were two of the best teams in the league at the time, and as a result the team rarely made it past the first round of the playoffs.

The team was broken apart after years of playoff failure, and Boschman was traded to the New Jersey Devils in September, 1990. In his last season with the Jets, he earned an 8-game suspension for high-sticking Tomas Sandstrom in retaliation. He played a few average seasons in New Jersey, before being claimed in the 1992 NHL Expansion Draft by the Ottawa Senators. He was the team's first captain during the team's dreadful first season. Boschman retired after that 1992–93 season when he was bought out by the Senators, although he returned to hockey for a brief period in 1994 when he played for the Fife Flyers in Britain.

Boschman is one of only sixteen players in NHL history to have recorded 500+ points and 2,000+PIM in their career.

Boschman is now part of Hockey Ministries International, a ministry that combines ice hockey with Christianity.

Awards

*Named to the WHL All-Star Team (1979)
*Named to the Memorial Cup All-Star Team (1979).
*Won Molson Cup (Three-Stars Leader) for the Winnipeg Jets (1983–84).

Career statistics

ee also

* List of NHL players
* List of NHL seasons
* Captain (ice hockey)

References

*hockeydb|486
* [http://www.hockeydraftcentral.com/1979/79009.html Hockey Draft Central]
* [http://www.christianhockeyplayers.com/Portal Christian Hockey Players]

Persondata
NAME= Boschman, Laurie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=
DATE OF BIRTH= 1960-06-04
PLACE OF BIRTH= Major, SK, CAN
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=