There is a fine line between physical intimidating hockey, and dirty. They want Boucher to play right up against the line and only cross it when the situation is justifiable. Otherwise, he is only as useful as the players the others are goading into the stupid penalties, and he hurts the team. Boucher made his presence felt when the game was effectively over, Barlas, Gardiner and Stonehouse had already done their damage and when Sudbury took it to another level Boucher was there to shut it down.
If Boucher gets suspended, I don't like the timing, they have what will be another tough game against the Petes as well as the cross-conference games against Flint, Windsor and London. As important as it was to make the statement against Sudbury, there are more important games ahead. Boucher will need to learn how to get his pound of flesh without removing him self from play.
Hawerchuk's teams were notorious for having hugely successful seasons (won central 4 times) and then bowing out of the playoffs early, only making it to the finals once and losing in the 2nd round four times, all in a seven-year period. Lets hope Ottawa doesn't replicate that trend.