Frank Boucher

Frank Boucher played for the NHL New York Rangers from 1926 through 1939. Boucher was often compared to NHL player legend Wayne Gretzky. He didn’t start out as a successful hockey player; in fact, he joined the Northwest Mounted Police in Canada when he was only 17 years old. He decided to try his hand at professional hockey and bought his way out of the police department for $50. He first started his career playing in 1921 for Ottawa Senators and after one season he played for the Pacific Coast Hockey league. Boucher began his career with the New York Rangers in 1926 and was matched up with brothers Bill and Bun Cook. They made a great combination and most other teams feared them. They developed what was called the “Bread” line or “A” line. This trio led the Rangers to win the Stanley Cup in only their second year of playing together.

After a successful career, Boucher became the New York Rangers coach in 1939. He led his team to the Stanley Cup in only is first year of coaching. He was the first coach to ever pull the goalie and add an extra player and developed the box defense for killing penalties. Even though his team won the Stanley Cup the first year, his team began to struggle due to the war.

In 1944, he made a comeback as a player but after 15 games he retired once again. He was replaced as the Rangers coach during the 1948-1949 season and returned later in 1953 and retired soon after for good.