Goucher, after 16 years of calling Bruins games on the radio, became the Knights’ television voice in 2017, the franchise’s inaugural season.
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A dozen years ago this past Thursday, Dave Goucher made one of the most satisfying and enduring calls of Boston professional sports’ 21st century championship era.
Goucher, then the Bruins’ radio play-by-play voice on 98.5 The Sports Hub, implored to “get the duck boats ready!” as the final seconds ticked away in the Bruins’ Stanley Cup-clinching Game 7 victory in Vancouver.
It was such a satisfying call, perfectly capturing the joyous vibe of the Bruins’ first championship in 39 years and heralding the parade — duck boats included, of course — to come.
Goucher, who along with Shane Hnidy (a 2011 Bruin), now calls local television broadcasts for the newly crowned Cup-champion Vegas Golden Knights, said during a telephone conversation on the day of the anniversary that he thinks of that night in Vancouver often.
“It doesn’t seem like that long ago. It really doesn’t,” said Goucher, noting that Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, who combined for all four goals in the clincher, and 2011 playoff scoring leader David Krejci were still with the Bruins this season.
“Shane and I talk about it almost every time we go to Vancouver. You can remember where everything happened. You remember the celebration, the locker room, all of it. Shane would tell you that he left the building with his suit coat on and no shirt. Not sure what happened to the shirt.
Goucher had a very high approval rating during his time calling Bruins games. Occasionally in this corner of the sports section, we’ll hear from fans pining for the Rhode Island native and Boston University graduate to return to Boston someday as Jack Edwards’s replacement on NESN’s Bruins broadcasts.
Goucher, who just before our conversation had left the dry cleaner while trying to salvage the suit he wore in the champagne-soaked locker room after the Knights’ clincher, sounds content in his current environment.
“The quality of life is great,” said Goucher, who lives in the Red Rock Canyon area, 20 minutes away from downtown Las Vegas and The Strip.
“The weather’s great. There’s no real traffic. It’s not like the traffic back home, it’s not like legitimate traffic. Here, 20 minutes is usually 20 minutes, not 20 minutes turning into three days.
“I drive five minutes, literally five minutes to our practice rink. There’s a Dunkin’s in Boston every block, every block and a half. Here, there’s one on the way. So, if I stop there, that’s seven minutes to the practice rink.”
He said the perception of Las Vegas to tourists and outsiders is different from those that live there. He doesn’t avoid the city’s enticing bright lights but keeps them dimmed.
“The city is one of the most vibrant places on earth and you go down there for a great meal, a great show,” he said. “But I learned pretty early on coming out here almost six years ago that most people want an identity away from The Strip. That’s not your life here. You live real lives, these real people with real families and real communities and real jobs that love this team.
