Ottawa Senators coach Guy Boucher, BA’95, knows how to shut things down come July.
“Everybody gets their balance some way and anybody that knows me knows that I’m all in or I’m all out,” Boucher told the McGill News, a few days before the start of NHL free agency.
He said he would soon be going off the grid, retreating with his family to eastern Quebec to a cottage without electricity. Smartphones and iPads would remain behind at home.
“It’s the best moment of the year for the family, because I’m actually there for real. And that’s how I’m able to give back, because during the season it’s really, really difficult to be a husband, and it’s difficult to be a father, too, because we’re never there. [This is] my chance to give all my moments of the day to my family.”
The Senators surprised the hockey world with a deep playoff run after a tough season marked by injuries and the cancer battle of goaltender Craig Anderson’s wife, Nicholle. The Senators came within a goal of making the Stanley Cup finals, pushing the eventual Cup champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins, to double overtime in Game 7 in the Eastern Conference final.
“I’m a big believer in what I call ‘the intangibles’ and I think we had terrific intangibles,” Boucher says, reflecting on what went right for the Sens. He cited his strong working relationship with general manager Pierre Dorion and a veteran staff that was on the same page all season long.
Back behind an NHL bench last season after being fired by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2013, Boucher says “hockey wise” he didn’t really change his approach to coaching.
The thing he learned from his last NHL experience, Boucher adds, is where – and where not – to put his energy. He learned to let go of difficult moments.
If you lose sleep over the 15 games when your team under-performs, “then you’re obviously not going to have the energy that you need to be at your best once the playoffs come.
“And I think that’s probably what I did best last year. I felt at the end of the year I had a lot more energy because I knew what was coming. I surrounded myself with a lot of experience… and I was able to delegate a lot.”
One of the people he relies on the most is assistant coach and longtime collaborator Martin Raymond, BEd’90, MA’96. The two played together with the McGill Redmen when Boucher, a star forward, was a rookie. Raymond, who coached the Redmen for 14 years, also worked as an assistant coach under Boucher in Tampa and in the American Hockey League.
“He’s extremely good with the players because the players love him. I think he’s probably the most liked person I know in my life, actually,” says Boucher of Raymond. “He knows all my strengths, he knows what my weaknesses are. He can really fill the blanks for me.”
Boucher says he’s never shied away from asking people with more experience for advice. The list of NHL coaching luminaries who have generously obliged over the years includes Jacques Lemaire and Ken Hitchcock.
He has also had the chance to chat with fellow McGill alum, Mike Babcock, BEd’86, LLD’13, now the coach of the rival Toronto Maple Leafs.
“I’m one of those annoying types – I’d look at who’s good at what and I’d just go talk to them,” says Boucher.
He and Babcock both wore their McGill ties during a game in 2011 when their teams at the time — the Lightning and Detroit Red Wings — squared off.
“His McGill tie won that game so I didn’t wear it again,” Boucher laughs. “I wore a McGill t-shirt [underneath] instead.”
A NHL team’s fortunes can swing wildly from one season to the next, from making the playoffs to going home in early April – a fate that befell a few of the Senators’ Atlantic Division rivals last season, as Boucher points out.
He talked about the fierce opposition the Senators expect to face next season in their division. “We certainly are aware of that and we’re not going to take anything for granted. Last year is last year — it’s done.”
When Boucher reports for duty at the Senators training camp in September, one thing is certain. He’ll be all in.
