Brian Boucher

Infobox Ice Hockey Player

---

image_size = 250px
position = Goaltender
catches = Left
height_ft = 6
height_in = 2
weight_lb = 198
team = San Jose Sharks
league = NHL
nationality = USA
birth_date = birth date and age|1977|1|2
birth_place = Woonsocket, RI, U.S.
career_start = 1997
draft = 22nd overall
draft_year = 1995
draft_team = Philadelphia Flyers
former_teams = Philadelphia Flyers
Phoenix Coyotes
Calgary Flames
Chicago Blackhawks
Columbus Blue Jackets

Brian Boucher (Boo-shay) (born January 2, 1977, in Woonsocket, Rhode Island) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender for the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is the backup for San Jose's starting goaltender Evgeni Nabokov.

Playing career

Boucher was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, 22nd overall. He began play with the Flyers in the 1999-2000 season, taking the starting position from veteran John Vanbiesbrouck and helped the team secure the Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division regular season titles. In the playoffs, he backstopped his team to the Conference finals which they lost in seven games to the eventual Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils. In 2000-2001, however, a weak start saw him lose his starting position to Roman Čechmánek.

He was traded with draft picks to the Phoenix Coyotes on June 12, 2002, for Michal Handzuš and Robert Esche. While with Phoenix, he broke the modern-day NHL record for the longest shutout streak by a goalie, going unscored upon for 332 minutes, or 5 and a half games. On February 1, 2006, Phoenix traded him to the Calgary Flames along with Mike Leclerc in exchange for Steven Reinprecht and Philippe Sauvé.

Boucher began the 2006-07 NHL Season with the Chicago Blackhawks. On February 27, 2007, Boucher was picked-up on waivers by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Boucher arrived hours prior to the Blue Jackets-Colorado Avalanche game that evening. During the game, he wore Ty Conklin's #35 sweater. On March 3, 2007, Boucher made his Blue Jackets debut against his former team the Phoenix Coyotes. His first game was a successful 4–3 win.

On July 23, 2007, Boucher signed with the Philadelphia Flyers AHL affiliate, Philadelphia Phantoms. After playing most of the 2007–08 season with the Phantoms, Boucher signed a one-year contract with the San Jose Sharks on February 26, 2008. [http://sharks.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=354988]

On June 25, 2008, stating how much he liked the San Jose atmosphere, he signed one-year contract with the Sharks that will pay him US$650,000. [Pollak, David. [http://blogs.mercurynews.com/sharks/2008/06/25/pavelski-roenick-boucher-four-years-505-million-gets-it-all-done/ "Pavelski, Roenick, Boucher — 4 years, $5 million gets it done"] , "", June 25, 2008. Accessed June 25, 2008.]

Awards

*1996: Western Hockey League (west) 2nd All-Star team
*1997: Western Hockey League (west) 1st All-Star team
*1997: Del Wilson Trophy (WHL goalie of the year)
*2000: NHL All-Rookie team
*Oct 29-Nov 4, 2001: NHL Player of the week

Records

*Set a modern day NHL record with five consecutive shutouts in 2003–04.

Career statistics

Regular season

Post season

References

External links

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* [http://www.hockeygoalies.org/bio/boucher.html Brian Boucher's profile at Hockey Goalies]
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