Not too long ago, we looked at one of the National Hockey League’s early greats, Frank Boucher. Frank wasn’t the only one in the family to play in the NHL. Boucher had three brothers that played some hockey in the pioneer days of the league. One even joins Frank in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
However, timing was not on the side of the Boucher boys when it came to hockey cards. You will not find Billy, Robert or Buck Boucher listed in Beckett Monthly. This is simply due to that fact that each played in an era void of mainstream cardboard.
Billy Boucher
Over his short time in the league, Boucher watched the regular season grow from 22 games to 44 games in an era when assists were kept under lock and key. With that in mind, his 93 goals and 38 assists for 131 points over 213 career regular season games is pretty impressive. He played an additional 12 games in the Stanley Cup playoffs, scoring two goals.
In 1922-23, Billy scored 23 goals and assisted on four for 27 points over 24 games. He played second in the league for goals, three behind the leader Babe Dye of Toronto St. Pats. He placed tenth in the NHL for points, ten behind the leader Dye. No angel, Boucher led the league with 52 minutes in the penalty box.
The following year, Boucher put up great numbers again for the Canadiens. He scored 16 goals and assisted on 6 for 22 points over 23 games in 1923-24. He placed third in goal scoring, tied for second in assists and placed second for points, one point behind Cy Denneny of the Ottawa Senators. Billy dropped to fifth in PIM and the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup championship by beating the Senators in a two game final.
In 1924-25, Boucher won his second of two Stanley Cup championships. The Canadiens won the title with a one game victory over the Hamilton Tigers. Billy scored 18 goals and assisted on 13 for 31 points over 30 games. He tied for eighth in goals, placed second for assists and finished fifth in points. Once again, Boucher led the league in penalty minutes.
Boucher would get on more chance at a Stanley Cup. He was traded from Montreal to the Boston Bruins midway through the 1926-27 season. Boston reached the finals before being ousted by Ottawa.
After playing for the New York Americans in 1927-28, Billy finished up his pro hockey career with four years in the CAHL before retiring. The CAHL is an ancestor to the present day American Hockey League.
Robert Boucher
Bobby played just one year in the NHL, 1923-24, with the Montreal Canadiens and was teammates with brother Billy. Boucher played in just 12 games and accummulated no points. However, he made the best of it with a Stanley Cup championships.
Bobby played minor por hockey from 1924-25 to 1928-29. He appeared in the WHL, CPHL and CAHL during that time.
Buck Boucher
Buck Boucher was part of three Stanley Cup champions while reaching the finals five times. With Ottawa, the Senators lost to the Seattle Metropolitans in 1919-20, beat the Toronto St. Pats in 1920-21, lost to Toronto in 1921-22, beat the Canadiens and brother Billy in 1922-23 and beat the Bruins and again brother Billy in 1926-27.
Buck started out as a halfback for the Ottawa Rough Riders of the CFL. After three years, he switched sports. Boucher moved behind the bench and was head coach in the NHL, CAHL, IAHL and QSHL until calling it quits after 1949-50. In the NHL, he coached the Montreal Maroons, Ottawa Senators, St. Louis Eagles and Boston Bruins.
His only championship as a head coach came in 1932-33. At the time, Buck was coaching the Boston Cubs of what is now the AHL. The Cubs met with the Philadelphia Arrows in the finals with the Cubs pushing the best of five series to the limit before taking home the Calder Cup.
Georges ‘Buck’ Boucher was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1960.