Frank Boucher is best known for being one of the superstar centers of the 1920s-30s, the pivot of the Bread Line, annual winner (and literal owner) of the Lady Byng, and a fixture in the Rangers organization for many decades.
Less remembered is his tenure at the head of the Saskatchewan Junior league in the early 1960s, where he embarked on a crusade to solve the flaws which had crept into the game.
Boucher's first salvo was fired at the slapshot, which he characterized as a 'trick shot' which was detrimental to proper stickhandling and shooting. In 1963, he issued a rule change in the SJHL which made slapping the puck a minor penalty if used beyond the opposing blue line. By all accounts, this virtually eliminated use of the slapshot in that league. Circumstantially, the evidence suggests that this was a reaction to Bobby Hull's 50-goal campaign in 1962, which triggered a surge of slapshots among young players.
News coverage of the time suggests a sharp East/West divide on the topic. The Canadian Press article written on the topic shows Boucher receiving support (or at least a lack of objection) from Manitoba junior league president Bill Robinson, Winnipeg Rangers coach George Pennell, Winnipeg Braves GM Bill Addison, and Vancouver Canucks coach Max McNab. On the other hand, it quotes Oshawa Generals coach Wren Blair and Toronto Maple Leafs coach Punch Imlach as saying the rule was anything from unnecessary to unenforceable (though Imlach granted it might help younger prospects). A later article had Jacques Plante and Emile Francis opposed to the change.
But the juiciest quotes came from Hamilton Red Wings (OHA) coach Eddie Bush:
By 1964, it was clear that Boucher had grander designs for remaking the sport. On January 9th, he wrote an article for newspaper publication which outlined a complete plan for "altering present day rules to make the game more open and attractive to the public".
Boucher's modest proposal to increase skillful offensive flow:
- Shrink the neutral zone by 6'
- Remove the center red line. Icing to be measured from the offensive blue line (i.e. no dumping the puck in, unless you can win a touch-icing footrace)
- Icing when shorthanded only permitted when 2 men short
- No body checking within 3' of the boards
- No pinning a player against the boards, nor freezing the puck along the boards for a face-off.
- Minor stick infractions such as tripping to be ignored unless deemed intentional
- Harsher penalties for serious/violent infractions
- "Curtailment" of the slap shot
The sum of these changes would be a game far more focused on puck handling the entire length of the ice. Without the benefit of dump-ins, players would need to organize an offensive rush across the blue line. In the event that it failed, the defense would have more space and time to organize a counter-rush in the opposite direction, rather than being hemmed in by a forecheck.
In April, Boucher made an audacious move. Rumored widely to be the next coach/GM for both the Canadiens and the national Olympic team, he publicly challenged the NHL to give him one year to and publicly challenged the NHL to give him one year of control to remove the red line and make perhaps one other change, staking his reputation that the result would be a superior product.
As we know, Boucher's phone never rang in response. Sam Pollock was chosen as GM of the Habs that summer, and Toe Blake occupied the bench role for several more years. Father David Bauer, transitioning from the bench to a management role for the Olympic team, preferred a player-coach for his replacement, and recruited Jackie McLeod. Later that year, Boucher offered a slightly altered version of his prior list of proposed changes:
In late 1964, in the wake of the USSR's first gold medal, Boucher made a prescient observation: the Russians were still playing and perfecting a style of hockey they had learned from Canadians prior to the fall of the Iron Curtain... prior to the introduction of the red line. A style heavily focused on puck possession, crisply coordinated neutral zone passes, smooth entries across the blue line, and methodically working the puck toward the net. The Canadians were looking to turn dump-ins and chaotic forechecks into goalmouth scrambles and ugly goals. In Boucher's view, the Canadians needed to re-learn how to pass as well as the Russians, or they would be in for a hard battle for world supremacy.
Boucher continued his term as SJHL Commissioner for two more years, and oversaw that league's merger in 1968. In so doing, Boucher became the first Commissioner of what would eventually become today's WHL.
The NHL went to a 2-referee system in 2001.
The NHL shrank the neutral zone by 2 feet in 1990, and another 6 feet in 2005.
The NHL eliminated the red line for the purpose of allowing 2-line pases in 2005.
NHL referees are no longer encouraged to stop play for pucks frozen along the boards.
Slapshots remain legal.
Less remembered is his tenure at the head of the Saskatchewan Junior league in the early 1960s, where he embarked on a crusade to solve the flaws which had crept into the game.
Boucher's first salvo was fired at the slapshot, which he characterized as a 'trick shot' which was detrimental to proper stickhandling and shooting. In 1963, he issued a rule change in the SJHL which made slapping the puck a minor penalty if used beyond the opposing blue line. By all accounts, this virtually eliminated use of the slapshot in that league. Circumstantially, the evidence suggests that this was a reaction to Bobby Hull's 50-goal campaign in 1962, which triggered a surge of slapshots among young players.
News coverage of the time suggests a sharp East/West divide on the topic. The Canadian Press article written on the topic shows Boucher receiving support (or at least a lack of objection) from Manitoba junior league president Bill Robinson, Winnipeg Rangers coach George Pennell, Winnipeg Braves GM Bill Addison, and Vancouver Canucks coach Max McNab. On the other hand, it quotes Oshawa Generals coach Wren Blair and Toronto Maple Leafs coach Punch Imlach as saying the rule was anything from unnecessary to unenforceable (though Imlach granted it might help younger prospects). A later article had Jacques Plante and Emile Francis opposed to the change.
But the juiciest quotes came from Hamilton Red Wings (OHA) coach Eddie Bush:
"Frankie thinks everybody should be a Lady Byng winner like him," scoffed Bush, the vociferous coach of Hamilton Red Wings in the Ontario Hockey Association Junior A league.
He said Tuesday that if Boucher had his way, players would be penalized for having unkempt hair, would wear bow ties and shy away in embarrassment from body contact.
He said Tuesday that if Boucher had his way, players would be penalized for having unkempt hair, would wear bow ties and shy away in embarrassment from body contact.
By 1964, it was clear that Boucher had grander designs for remaking the sport. On January 9th, he wrote an article for newspaper publication which outlined a complete plan for "altering present day rules to make the game more open and attractive to the public".
Boucher's modest proposal to increase skillful offensive flow:
- Shrink the neutral zone by 6'
- Remove the center red line. Icing to be measured from the offensive blue line (i.e. no dumping the puck in, unless you can win a touch-icing footrace)
- Icing when shorthanded only permitted when 2 men short
- No body checking within 3' of the boards
- No pinning a player against the boards, nor freezing the puck along the boards for a face-off.
- Minor stick infractions such as tripping to be ignored unless deemed intentional
- Harsher penalties for serious/violent infractions
- "Curtailment" of the slap shot
The sum of these changes would be a game far more focused on puck handling the entire length of the ice. Without the benefit of dump-ins, players would need to organize an offensive rush across the blue line. In the event that it failed, the defense would have more space and time to organize a counter-rush in the opposite direction, rather than being hemmed in by a forecheck.
In April, Boucher made an audacious move. Rumored widely to be the next coach/GM for both the Canadiens and the national Olympic team, he publicly challenged the NHL to give him one year to and publicly challenged the NHL to give him one year of control to remove the red line and make perhaps one other change, staking his reputation that the result would be a superior product.
As we know, Boucher's phone never rang in response. Sam Pollock was chosen as GM of the Habs that summer, and Toe Blake occupied the bench role for several more years. Father David Bauer, transitioning from the bench to a management role for the Olympic team, preferred a player-coach for his replacement, and recruited Jackie McLeod. Later that year, Boucher offered a slightly altered version of his prior list of proposed changes:
In late 1964, in the wake of the USSR's first gold medal, Boucher made a prescient observation: the Russians were still playing and perfecting a style of hockey they had learned from Canadians prior to the fall of the Iron Curtain... prior to the introduction of the red line. A style heavily focused on puck possession, crisply coordinated neutral zone passes, smooth entries across the blue line, and methodically working the puck toward the net. The Canadians were looking to turn dump-ins and chaotic forechecks into goalmouth scrambles and ugly goals. In Boucher's view, the Canadians needed to re-learn how to pass as well as the Russians, or they would be in for a hard battle for world supremacy.
Boucher continued his term as SJHL Commissioner for two more years, and oversaw that league's merger in 1968. In so doing, Boucher became the first Commissioner of what would eventually become today's WHL.
The NHL went to a 2-referee system in 2001.
The NHL shrank the neutral zone by 2 feet in 1990, and another 6 feet in 2005.
The NHL eliminated the red line for the purpose of allowing 2-line pases in 2005.
NHL referees are no longer encouraged to stop play for pucks frozen along the boards.
Slapshots remain legal.
