What he did: For those who remember the eight-year run of the Atlanta Flames in the 1970s, no one will forget Dan Bouchard. The styling, sometimes bar-fighting, somewhat eccentric goalie always kept things interesting, whether it was making a save off the stick of the great Bobby Orr or swinging his big blade at Philadelphia Flyers goon Dave Schultz. Bouchard was a survivor in a league where hard-nosed hockey and high sticks were the norm and good goalies where at a premium.
From Montreal, Bouchard picked up his first stick at the age of 6 and began as a forward and defenseman, switching to the goal only when his youth team had nowhere else to turn. But it was there that Bouchard started making a name for himself on the Canadian Juniors level and in 1969 led the Sorel Black Hawks to a title, winning 14 of 19 of his starts.
He was chosen by the Boston Bruins in the NHL draft (27th overall) and was sent to play in the minors in the American Hockey League, making stops with the Hershey Bears, Boston Braves and Oklahoma City Blazers. He was 27-13-7 for the Braves in 1971-72, with a 2.51 goals-against average and was called up to the Bruins for the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Bruins already had veteran goalies Gerry Cheevers and Eddie Johnston, but Bouchard practiced with the team as they would go on to beat Toronto, St. Louis and the New York Rangers to win the Stanley Cup.
On a team that had Orr, Phil Esposito and two goalies that each won 27 games the previous season, Bouchard was not protected in the NHL expansion draft when the Flames and the New York Islanders were coming into the league. Bouchard was taken third in the draft, behind other Flames goalie Phil Myre (first pick of the draft) and Islanders keeper Gerry Desjardins.
The Flames had hired NHL legend Boom Boom Geoffrion as their coach, and most teams then used two goalies. For the most part Myre and Bouchard received equal time the first season. The Flames were 25-38-15, and Bouchard was 9-15-10 while Myre was 16-23-5.
The two would be the team’s goalies for the next six seasons, making the playoffs four times but never advancing past the first round. Bouchard was 25-12-19 during the 1977-78 season (2.75 GAA), and then Myre was sent to St. Louis. The next season Bouchard started in 64 games, going 32-21-7 (3.33 GAA) and was one of the top goalies in the league, but the Flames lasted one more season in Atlanta, and in 1980 Bouchard went with the club to Calgary.
While it has been widely reported that the Flames left town because of financial reasons, lack of fan support and an inability to get a major TV contract, Bouchard has always insisted that the sale by majority owner Tom Cousins came because the other owners wanted him out of the league because he discovered that money was being pilfered from the players’ pension funds. That turned into a scandal that blew up in early 1990s, when the first director of the NHL’s Players’ Association was arrested and eventually sent to jail for embezzlement.
Meanwhile, Bouchard didn’t like it in Calgary, asked to be traded but was told no one wanted him. So on his own, Bouchard picked up the telephone a month into the season and called Quebec, the worst team in the league. He worked out a deal on his own, turned around a Nordiques team that had started 1-9-5 and started a string of five consecutive playoff appearances, including making the conference finals in 1982 and beating the Canadiens and Bruins before losing to the Islanders.
Bouchard finished his career with one season in Winnipeg before blowing out a knee while trying to make a comeback. He retired and coached in Quebec for five seasons before the team moved to Colorado and then underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor. He finished his career with a 286-232 record and a 3.26 GAA. Patrick Roy, perhaps the greatest goalie in NHL history, always has said that when he was growing up, Bouchard was his idol.
Where he lives: Bouchard, 64, has lived in the same house in Marietta for 38 years and has been married to Janet for 42 years. He has two children: Jordan (37) and Lindsey (34).
What he does now: He is the head hockey coach at Life University and has been involved in a program to help other professional athletes through traumatic brain injuries and sports concussions.
On switching to the goalie position when he was young: "We were playing outside and depending which way you were going, the cold wind or sun was in your face. Our goalie decided he didn't want to play, so the coach asked who wanted to play goalie. I jumped on it like a squirrel on nuts.''
On playing in Atlanta: "I remember staying in a big hotel on Northside Drive and I was eating at a restaurant across from Piedmont Hospital and across from it there was a sign with Atlanta's population and it said, '497,000.' It was a perfect-size city for me, and I loved the people.''
On the success of the Flames: "We were just a player to two short from really being good. But we never had that Denis Potvin, that one animal that was going to dominate the game for you.''
On sharing the goal with Myre: "I was always told if you want to get to the net you had to fight for it. The thing about Phil was we sat on opposite sides of the dressing room. We had to be careful because we didn't want to split the dressing room, so we stayed in separate corners. When I went out to the ice, I wanted the team to follow me and the same when Phil went out there.''
On the rivalry with the Flyers: "It's funny because I played with (Dave) Schultz in juniors, and he was afraid to get his face scratched then. The Flyers wanted to win by intimidation. It was an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth with them back then.''
On the best hockey player he faced: "It was Orr. He had charisma. He was a leader and you knew that when he addressed you. He had everything, and you have to remember that unlike Wayne Gretzky who the league protected, back then they would go after Orr's knees. We would nullify Gretzky by taking away his two forwards.''
On playing for Geoffrion: "It was so much fun, almost a comedy at times. He would also say to us there are three things to remember … to skate and shoot, but he never told us the third one. That was even mentioned at his funeral. He could really motivate the guys.''
On the Flames leaving Atlanta: We had lunch with Mr. Cousins, and we had been doing the math on the pension fund and players like the great Rocket Richard were getting very little money every year. We asked Mr. Cousins to look into it, and he brought in a guy from Equifax. He found a discrepancy in the pension, and we told him you can't tell the other owners because they are going to make you get rid of the team. That is exactly what happened.''
On doing his own trade to Quebec: "I went to see (GM) Cliff Fletcher and told him I wanted out, and he told me no one wanted me. I said can I pick up the phone and call other teams, and he said yes. I looked at the standings and saw Quebec and that they were in last place. I called them, and it worked out pretty good.''
On the Thrashers leaving Atlanta: "It was the poorest-managed team in hockey. I wanted to come back and be the goaltending coach, but (GM) Don Waddell told me goaltending is a myth and he only needed me once a month. And the downfall was they never had a goaltender. Also, I didn't like the way Don treated us, the former Flames. He didn't want his people doing stuff with us. I have no respect for that guy.''
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