Georges Boucher

John Georges “Buck” Boucher, a Canadian defenceman, played for the Ottawa Senators, Montreal Maroons, and Chicago Black Hawks in the NHA and NHL from 1915 to 1932. In 1921, he became the first defenceman to score a hat-trick in an NHL playoff game. Born in Ottawa to Tom Boucher and Annie Carroll, his paternal grandfather was French, while his other grandparents were Irish. His father played rugby for Ottawa College and the Ottawa Rough Riders, winning Canadian championships in 1894, 1896, 1897, and 1901. Younger brothers Billy, Bob, and Frank also became professional hockey players; two other brothers, Carroll and Joseph, and two sisters, Irene and Lily, completed the family. Boucher enlisted with the 207th (Ottawa-Carleton) Battalion in October 1916 but was discharged that December for unclear reasons. He re-enlisted in May 1917 with the Signal Training Department, but a medical exam found mitral regurgitation, making him unfit for service. His son, Frank Boucher, coached Canada’s 1948 Olympic gold medal-winning hockey team, the Ottawa RCAF Flyers. Boucher started his professional athletic career in football as halfback for the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League. After three seasons, he switched to hockey, playing as an amateur with the Ottawa Aberdeens, New Edinburghs, and Royal Canadians in the Ottawa City Hockey League. He joined the Senators (then in the NHA) in 1915 as a forward, soon moving to defenceman, where he gained fame for excellent stickhandling. He played alongside stars like Eddie Gerard, Horace Merrill, Sprague Cleghorn, Lionel Hitchman, and King Clancy. In the 1923 Stanley Cup playoffs, Boucher faced his brother Frank, marking the first time two sets of brothers (also Cy and Corbett Denneny) opposed each other in an NHL or Big Four championship series. He helped lead the Senators to four Stanley Cup titles between 1920 and 1927. Over his NHL career (1917–1932), he scored 117 goals and 87 assists in 449 games, amassing 838 penalty minutes—including 115 in just 44 games in 1926–27. At retirement in 1932, he ranked 11th among NHL career points leaders. Known as an extremely tough player, he later coached in the NHL for Ottawa, Boston, and St. Louis, and coached the Ottawa Senators of the Quebec Hockey League to an Allan Cup win in 1949.