MONTREAL -- The Toronto Maple Leafs have added McGill University graduate Guy Boucher to their coaching staff. The announcement was made on Thursday and also included the appointment of Mike Van Ryn as an assistant coach.

"One of my goals every offseason is to put together the best staff possible to help give us the greatest opportunity for team success," said Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe in a press release issued by the NHL team. "I'm thrilled to add experienced and accomplished coaches like Guy and Mike, as well as how the roles and responsibilities will now be shared amongst our coaching staff moving forward."

Boucher is one of 10 McGill grads to coach in the NHL (see list below). A 51-year-old native of Notre-Dame-du-Lac, Que., who was raised in Montreal's West Island suburb of Roxboro, Que., he will be overseeing the Leafs' power-play unit. He has a combined NHL regular season record of 191-186-46 in previous head coaching stints with the Tampa Bay Lightning (2010-2013) and Ottawa Senators (2016-2019). Since leaving the Senators, he had been working as a hockey analyst with RDS, a French-language sports network.

"Guy has excellent skills and is very passionate about the power play. I've known him for a while and we've been talking for a few years now. I know he's passionate about it," Keefe told The Canadian Press.

"He's very enthusiastic about this new challenge. We've had a good numerical advantage in recent years, so expectations are high. So I needed to bring in someone with experience who I was going to be able to work with. It's not just his passion, but he has a great philosophy for recognizing the strengths of our numerical advantage unit and building from those elements."

Boucher, who guided Canada to gold at the 2015 Spengler Cup tournament in Switzerland, also served three seasons as head coach of SC Bern of the National League A in Switzerland, posting a 44-29-5 record. Prior to that, he spent two-plus seasons as the head coach in Tampa, posting a 97-78-20 record in 195 games. Boucher led the Lightning to the Eastern Conference Final in 2010-11. Before his stint in Tampa, he guided AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs in 2009-10.

During his playing days, he was a centre with the McGill varsity hockey team under head coach Jean Pronovost from 1991 to 1995. Boucher, who served as captain in his final season at McGill, recorded 71 goals and 183 points in 141 career games overall. He graduated in 1995 with his first of three degrees, a bachelor of arts, majoring in history and environmental biology. In 1995-96, Boucher played pro in France for Viry-Essonne where he scored 16 goals and 38 points in 28 games.

He then returned to Canada in 1996 to complete a science degree in agricultural engineering at McGill and begin a master's in sports psychology at the University of Montreal, which he eventually finished in 2014 under the tutelage of McGill grad Dr. Wayne Halliwell (MA '72). During that time, Boucher cut his teeth as an assistant at McGill under head coach Martin Raymond for one season (1996-97) before moving on to serve as an assistant to Jean Pronovost with the QMJHL's Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (1997-2000).

Boucher then took over as head coach with the Lac St. Louis Lions of the Quebec Midget AAA hockey league. Three seasons later, he returned to the QMJHL, where he was an assistant coach with the Rimouski Océanic from 2003 to 2006. He was appointed bench boss of the QMJHL's Drummondville Voltigeurs in 2006 and won the Paul Dumont Trophy in 2008-09, awarded to QMJHL's personality of the year. He coached the Voltigeurs for three seasons, leading them to the QMJHL regular season and playoff championships and a berth in the Memorial Cup in 2008-09.

In 2009, Boucher took over the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs, then the Montreal Canadiens' top minor league affiliate. He led Hamilton to an impressive 52-17-11 record for 115 points and won the Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award as coach of the year in 2009-10 after leading them to the North Division championship.

Boucher has also other duties with Hockey Canada and was an assistant to Pat Quinn at the 2009 IIHF world junior championship at which Canada won gold. He was an assistant three times for Canada's under-18 national team in 2006, 2007 and 2008, winning gold in his last appearance.


McGILL GRADS WHO COACHED IN THE NHL: 

Lester Patrick – Head Coach, NY Rangers (1926-1939)
*Bryan Murray – Head Coach, Washington, Detroit, Florida, Anaheim, Ottawa (1981-2008)
*Doug Carpenter – Head Coach, New Jersey, Toronto (1984-1991)
George Burnett – Head Coach, Edmonton 1994-95) and Asst. Coach, Anaheim (1998-2000)
Jamie Kompon – Asst. Coach, St Louis (1996-2006), Los Angeles (2006-2012), Chicago (2012-2014), Winnipeg (2016-2022) and Florida (2022-present)
Jonathan Elkin – Goaltender Coach, Calgary (1999-2002) and Arizona (2014-2017)
Mike Babcock – Head Coach, Anaheim (2002-2005), Detroit (2005-2015), Toronto (2015-2019) and Columbus (2023-present)
Martin Raymond – Asst. Coach, Tampa (2010-2013) and Ottawa (2016-2019)
Guy Boucher – Head Coach, Tampa (2010-2013) and Ottawa (2016-2019); Assistant coach, Toronto (2023-present)
Todd Woodcroft – Asst. Coach, Winnipeg (2017-2020)

*McGill graduates but not associated with the school's varsity hockey team

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012
WEBSITE:www.mcgillathletics.ca
E-MAIL:earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca