He walks into the room 90 minutes before the game with his longish hair and face 
that looks like it has yet to need the services of a razor blade and you think, this young 
man -one year past a teenager- is the future goalie of the Flyers?  Don't be decieved by the 
boyish looks.  Brian Boucher, whom some people in the Flyers organization believe can be a 
Martin Brodeur-typ of dominating goaltender, played in the fourth professional game of his 
young life last night, and the reviews are in....

	The kid is not perfect.  Phantoms coach Bill Barber said Boucher has to work on 
being too agressive. Too competitive.  This is the assessment, remember, from a hockey 
organization in which goalies have been known to drop the catching mitt and punch the lights 
out of the opposing netminder.  Too aggressive is not going to be a problem.

	In this city, the debate will rage on for most of the season whether Ron Hextall and 
Garth Snow can carrry the Flyers to a championship.  When the winter thaw comes and the 
trading deadline is looming, there will be plenty of pressure on Flyers president Bob 
Clarketo make a deal for a goaltender if there is even a sliver of a doubt about Snow and 
Hextall.

	That puts Clarke in a difficult position because he doesn't want to trade for a 
young goaltender knowing that Boucher will be ready to play sooner rather than later.  Not 
this spring, parhaps the next.  For now Boucher is under the keen eyes of Barber, the 
Phantoms coach.  And he has already made an impression.

	"He's got a phenominal work ethic," Barber was saying before the Phantoms game last 
night with the Cincinnati Might Ducks. "He's got a great attitude. If anything he probably 
needs to control his emotions a little bit.  He competes too hard sometimes because he want 
to do so well.  He's so eager to stop the shot that he doesn't wait for it he goes out after 
it.  Barber is not unhappy about this.  Teaching a player to control aggression is far 
easier than trying to instill it.  Either you have that kind of personality or you don't.  
When Barber's remarks are passed on to Boucher he smiles.  He's 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds, and 
while that's a good size for a goalie he appears slight, as if he is still filling out.

	"I hate to be scored on," Boucher said, "Even in practice. I've got to realize that 
I'm not going to stop the puck every single time. That's where I get my aggressive attitude 
from, I think I'm going to stop every shot."  Boucher is active in the crease.  Last night 
whenever a Mighty Duck came near him, Boucher held out his stick like a pitchfork, causing 
the player to change his course.

	He grew up in Woonsocket, RI, a mill town just a spit over the Massachusetts border, 
when he was a kid he used to watch Patrick Roy play on TV as often as possible.  "I don't 
try to play like anyone," Boucher said, "But Patrick Roy is the guy I respected the most.  
He won two championships while I was growing up watching him play for Montreal.  He's a 
fantastic goaltender.  He has enormous confidence and skill."

	Boucher made the jump from junior hockey to the AHL this season and it is a huge 
jump.  The game is faster and more physical than the NHL.  What Barber has to do with 
Boucher this year is walk a fine line with winning on one side and player development on the 
other.  He wants to see what Boucher can do, but he said he is not going to put him in a 
situation where he could ruin his confidence.  So Boucher will split the goaltendine duties 
with Neil Little.

	Last night, in the first period, Boucher showed his incredible quickness.  A 
Phantoms defenseman lost the puck and left a Mighty Duck all alone on Bouchers front stoop. 
 He fired and Boucher knocked it down.  The rebound was one-timed by another Duck lurking on 
the opposite side of the crease.  Boucher snapped across the crease and blocked that shot 
too.  Both were big-time saves.  

	But then, in the second period, he let a low slap shot- taken from above the circle- 
go between his legs for a goal he shouldn't have let in.  You could hear him curse from the 
press box.

	Barber takes a protective, almost fatherly approach to his players.  "I cherish when 
our prospects are talked about," he said "But the biggest thing is there is really no 
pressure on him this year.  We have a game plan for him, I want this kid brought along 
properly."

	And Boucher is not making noise about rushing to the NHL.  Bouches says "I think 
everyone wants to get there as soon as possible. Whenever I'm ready and they think I'm 
ready, that's when I'll be there, but I'm patient."  All Barber will be looking for from 
Boucher this season is steady improvement.  And though Barber knows what kind of 
expectations there are on this kid, he won't know until spring how special he is.  

	For one thing, even though he has already played in four games, Boucher has yet to 
get in a fight. "I dropped the gloves in an exhibiton game at Hershey," he said smiling at 
the memory, "but I didn't throw any punches.  I'm waiting to get some lessons from one of 
those guys (Hextall, Snow, or Little) before I start throwing any haymakers.  In any case, 
if Boucher lives up to his billing, it will be the others who are fighting- for ice time.

Back to Main

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Pages

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws