Boucher carries winning formula

While Guy Boucher doesn't elicit an immediate thought of recognition, one of the top up-and-comers in the coaching ranks might soon become a household name.

Boucher, 38, coming off a successful season in the American Hockey League, has become a hot commodity for NHL teams looking to fill their head coaching vacancy. He might be set to bring his hard-working and winning formula to the Bay area.

A story first reported by ruefrontenac.com out of Montreal and picked up by other media outlets Monday night suggested Boucher resigned from the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs to take the job with the Lightning, a deal that could be announced as soon as today. Earlier on Monday, Boucher turned down an opportunity with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Lightning did not comment on the report Tuesday.

Boucher spent one year with Hamilton and guided the Bulldogs, the top affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens, to a 51-17-10 record while capturing the Western Conference regular-season championship before losing in seven games to Texas in the conference finals. The Bulldogs led the league in defense, allowing 2.24 goals per game, while ranking third in offense at 3.38 goals per game.

Boucher was named AHL Coach of the Year after becoming the fourth coach in AHL history to win at least 50 games in his first full pro season as a head coach.

Prior to joining the Canadiens organization, Boucher spent three years as coach of Drummondville of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, leading his team to a league title and a berth in the Memorial Cup finals in 2008-09. He also was an assistant coach, with Rimouski of the QMJHL from 2003-06 and Rouyn-Noranda from 1997-2000.

"He has good talent on individual working with players hockey-wise, knows lot of tactics and strategies. But with all this, he is a hard worker and he will put in all the time and more," said Doris Labontè, the coach at Rimouski before retiring two years ago. "He is intense as a coach and as a person. Players who want to get better, who want to learn, he will be there with them. If not, they will have it tough."

Labontè
- who coached Vinny Lecavalier, Brad Richards and Sidney Crosby at Rimouski - said Boucher is not afraid to implement new ideas, but he also knows how to relate to his players and take their input.

"When he worked with me, we discussed a lot of this kind of stuff, that you can make a judgment on something and want to put it into place, but make sure you are being fair about it," Labontè said. "He is somebody who can put together a game plan and apply it, but with Guy, he is comfortable making adjustments. He will see if he has the players to run what he wants, but will make adjustments to the players."

Despite his young age and the fact he played only one professional season - in France following a four-year career at McGill University in Montreal - Boucher is considered one of the top emerging coaches. The native of Notre-Dame-du-Lac, Quebec, has three degrees, including a master's in sports psychology from the University of Montreal.

Labontè said Boucher has ways of understanding and relating to today's athletes.

"He's not the type who's there to just please the players, but he's not there to just say he's the best," Labontè said. "He knows how to work with the new generation of players. You can't be an old-fashioned coach. You don't make players just do what you want them to do - they want to know why, they ask questions, they want to know the reason. I think the players will have fun with Guy.

"And I think he will be good a good fit with players like Vinny and Marty (St. Louis) - just as he was good with Sidney Crosby - because he knows how they think or what they need to be better players. And I think he works good with young players as well that want to work hard and become better players.

"He knows the chemistry of his teams and I think he will do a very good job."