Pierre-Marc Bouchard

Pierre-Marc Bouchard

Bouchard with the Minnesota Wild in 2011
Born (1984-04-27) April 27, 1984
Sherbrooke, Quebec
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 173 lb (78 kg; 12 st 5 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
NLA team
Former teams
EV Zug
Minnesota Wild
New York Islanders
NHL Draft 8th overall, 2002
Minnesota Wild
Playing career 20022016

Pierre-Marc Bouchard (born April 27, 1984) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who last played for EV Zug of the National League A (NLA). Bouchard played his junior hockey with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, and is the older brother of Austrian Hockey League player François Bouchard. Bouchard was selected eighth overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota Wild and has also featured in the National Hockey League with the New York Islanders.

Playing career

Pierre-Marc Bouchard appeared in professional play for the first time in the 2002–2003 NHL season in which he posted 7 goals and 13 assists for a total of 20 points in 50 games for the Minnesota Wild, which has been regarded as decent by NHL standards. During the 2004–2005 NHL lockout, Bouchard played for the Wild's minor league team, the Houston Aeros. Within this time period, Bouchard vastly improved his game. This was proved in the 2005–2006 season while he posted 17 goals and 42 assists for a total of 59 points in 80 games.

Bouchard is regarded as a creative playmaker and strong team player who often attempts unorthodox techniques during play. An example of one of these techniques was performed during an overtime shootout attempt in which he converted by utilizing a variation of a spin-o-rama against Chicago Blackhawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin. He repeated this move several years later, again against Khabibulin, though he did so during regulation play on a breakaway, rather than during an overtime shootout attempt.[1] Bouchard later credited the move to his younger brother François Bouchard.

On July 25, 2008, Bouchard signed a five-year, $20.4 million deal with the Minnesota Wild.[2] After suffering a hit to the head late in the 2008-09 season, Bouchard missed the rest of that season and all but the season opener of the 2009-10 season with post-concussion syndrome. Bouchard resumed play on December 1, 2010, against the Phoenix Coyotes after a 13-month absence, having missed 112 games. Bouchard scored a goal in his second game back, a loss to the Calgary Flames by a score of 3-2 in a shootout.[3]

On July 5, 2013, Bouchard signed a one-year, $2.0 million deal with the New York Islanders. He was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks along with Peter Regin on February 6, 2014 in exchange for a 2014 fourth-round draft pick and assigned to the Blackhawk's American Hockey League affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs.[4][5]

On July 8, 2014, Bouchard signed a one-year contract with Swiss club, EV Zug of the Swiss NLA. The contract also included an NHL out clause if he could reach a deal with a club prior to July 15.[6] In his debut season with Zug in 2014–15, Bouchard's transition was seamless in producing as their top line centre with 51 points in 49 games. On December 23, 2014, Bouchard was signed to a two-year contract extension with Zug.[7] Team captains and coaches of the NLA teams voted Bouchard MVP of the 2015-16 regular season.[8]

On March 18, 2016, he announced his retirement from professional hockey after having played 2 years in the NLA. Bouchard, who missed more than a year with concussions during his career, commented on his decision, saying that he did not want to risk any further health issues.[9]

Awards

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2000–01 Chicoutimi Saguenéens QMJHL 67 38 57 95 20 6 5 8 13 0
2001–02 Chicoutimi Saguenéens QMJHL 69 46 94 140 54 4 2 3 5 4
2002–03 Minnesota Wild NHL 50 7 13 20 18 5 0 1 1 2
2003–04 Minnesota Wild NHL 61 4 18 22 22
2004–05 Houston Aeros AHL 67 12 42 54 46 5 0 1 1 0
2005–06 Minnesota Wild NHL 80 17 42 59 28
2006–07 Minnesota Wild NHL 82 20 37 57 14 5 1 1 2 0
2007–08 Minnesota Wild NHL 81 13 50 63 34 6 2 2 4 2
2008–09 Minnesota Wild NHL 71 16 30 46 20
2009–10 Minnesota Wild NHL 1 0 0 0 2
2010–11 Minnesota Wild NHL 59 12 26 38 14
2011–12 Minnesota Wild NHL 37 9 13 22 18
2012–13 Minnesota Wild NHL 43 8 12 20 8 5 1 1 2 0
2013–14 New York Islanders NHL 28 4 5 9 12
2013–14 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 20 6 11 17 4
2013–14 Rockford IceHogs AHL 24 3 17 20 10
2014–15 EV Zug NLA 49 17 34 51 16 6 3 2 5 0
NHL totals 593 110 246 356 190 21 4 5 9 4

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2001 Canada Quebec U17 5th 4 0 1 1 2
2002 Canada U18 6th 8 4 8 12 16
2003 Canada WJC 2nd, silver medalist(s) 6 2 3 5 2
Junior totals 18 6 12 18 20

References

  1. "Let's Go for a Spin (NHL Video)". NHL.com. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
  2. "Bouchard gets multi-year deal". Star Tribune. 2008-07-26. Retrieved 2008-10-21.
  3. "Bouchard resumes contact drills after concussion". Washington Post. 2010-10-25. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
  4. "New York Islanders - Islanders Acquire Fourth-Round Pick from Chicago". National Hockey League. February 7, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  5. "Chicago Blackhawks acquire Peter Regin, Pierre-Marc Bouchard from New York Islanders". National Hockey League. February 6, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  6. "More than 600 games; Pierre-Marc Bouchard signs with EV Zug". swisshockeynews.ch. 2014-07-08. Retrieved 2014-07-08.
  7. "Bouchard extends with Zug until 2017" (in German). EV Zug. 2014-12-23. Retrieved 2014-12-24.
  8. "Bouchard est le nouveau MVP - il devance Matthews...". Bluewin (in French). Retrieved 2016-03-05.
  9. Press, The Associated. "Former Wild forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard retires". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Simon Gamache
CHL Player of the Year
2002
Succeeded by
Corey Locke
Preceded by
Ales Hemsky
Mike Bossy Trophy winner
2002
Succeeded by
Marc-Andre Fleury
Preceded by
Mikko Koivu
Minnesota Wild first round draft pick
2002
Succeeded by
Brent Burns
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