John Boruk: Raising a champion with John Boruk. All right. Joining us today on Raising a Champion. He's a 13-year NHL veteran who played for seven NHL teams. The 22nd overall pick in the 1995 draft, and to this day still holds the modern day shutout record of 332 minutes. And one second comprising of five consecutive shutouts.

He has spent the past seven seasons as an NHL analyst for NBC, and now he's moved over to ESPN, but perhaps more importantly, he's also the proud father of Tyler Boucher, who was the 10th overall pick of the 2021 NHL draft of the Ottawa Senators. Brian Boucher. Welcome to the. 

Brian Boucher: Yeah. Thanks for having me, John.

Great to be with you once again. You forgot to mention that you and I were work colleagues for one year as well over at Comcast Sports. Yeah, 

John Boruk: I thought you probably had put that out of your memory by now. And then you've moved on to greater [00:01:00] things that you didn't wanna I didn't wanna bring up some, some old wounds But you're right.

And we did and that I at least feel like I have about a two to 5% input in your professional career. 

Brian Boucher: You the first year you got me going and you didn't get me to quit. So I think that as a real positive. So you did a great job. There you go,. 

John Boruk: But you're doing a fantastic job as an analyst and I think the one thing that I remember you and I talking about was that it to be successful and this extends really the hockey.

To being an analyst to play by play whatever you do that if you want to be good at it, you're, you have to put the time in and you have to prepare. And I know a lot of people, a lot of former athletes think they can just go on there, go impromptu just be conversational. But you get a sense over time that you know, that doesn't last for a very long time.

You run outta material watching you, you [00:02:00] still, to this day, you're seven years that you do put in the time, you do put in that preparation. 

Brian Boucher: That's the only way I know how to do it. And you're right. I think when I first got into it, and you're, and you gave me some good advice with all of that as well.

I didn't know what to expect. I had no idea what the preparation would entail. I was green, I was watching hockey. I wasn't watching hockey that much. I was coaching my son, but I, I realized very quickly that if you wanna be good at it, you gotta put the work in, which means you, you have to watch hockey every single night.

You have to read all day long. You have to be up on current information. If. Four or five days off. A lot can change in the National Hockey League. You're covering 32 teams, so you gotta be on your toes, you gotta make sure you're watching all year long. And I found now after seven years, a pretty good routine that I get into that allows me to do that work and allows me to do what I have to do.

And I think that [00:03:00] when I get on TV, I feel like I'm prepared. I don't feel like I'm caught off guard. But yeah, you're right. You have to put the work in. I think a lot of. I don't know if they realize that going in, but they quickly find out if they're on TV and they get exposed because if you get caught exposed, it's a bad feeling and you'll learn pretty quick there. 

John Boruk: Obviously putting in the work is something that you emphasize with your son Tyler, and that's really the focus of our show is the father aspect of what you do now and you had that window between when you were a player. And when you transition to the broadcast booth where you were allowed to spend a little bit of time and that's when you started coaching your son, and how important was that experience is to be involved?

Because I know as a player you're on the road a lot and so there's a lot that you're gonna miss because obviously you're hockey season always coincides with their hockey. 

Brian Boucher: Yeah, early on when he was just a little guy, my wife Melissa, she was the [00:04:00] one that did all the traveling. She, doing all the, for a large part of it, you figured more than 50% of the practices.

She was the one taking there if I was on the road. So I missed a lot. And in the early stages probably when he was a might and squirt. Those were the years that, that, I missed that. And those are, I think in a large. way, those are the most fun years because they're just little guys, right?

They're just so excited to go to the rink. But any day I could take 'em to the rink on, on an off day in the morning, on the weekend, I certainly tried to expose 'em to, being around an NHL locker room. And I think he's got some great memories of that. So what I missed on taking him to his games or practices when he was playing.

I certainly tried to make up for it by bringing him to the rank on, off days and stuff like that. So he had the best of both worlds with that. But when I got done playing I realized real quickly I was playing in, in, I went to go play one last year in Switzerland. Last [00:05:00] minute my agent reached out to me in July.

It was like July 20th, 21st, around there. And he said, I've got nothing for you in the nhl. He goes, But I got an offer for you to go to Switzerland. He goes, Do you wanna do it? And I said, Nope. I don't wanna do. And he said hold on. He, it's pretty good money. He like, I don't think he should turn down.

I said his name was Bob Murray. I said, I have not worked out or trained at all this summer. So I said, If they're willing to put up with me for, they had a six or eight week training camp and realize that I'm outta shape, I said, I'll do it. But my mind was set that I was gonna be around my son and, be around my daughter and watch her play basketball, my son's hockey, and do all that.

And then at the last minute, I chose to go play one more year in Switzerland, which actually only ended up I think it was three months. They ended up buying me outta my contract eventually, and I ended up coming home in October or November. But I, so I was caught off guard that year.

And then the year after is when I finally decided [00:06:00] to devote my time to coaching my son and getting involved that way and trying to help him out, with what he wanted. 

John Boruk: Yeah, and I wanna talk about Tyler's evolution as a player. But take us back to those early years. At first it, it's getting them out on the ice and getting them to skate on their own and to be steady on, on, on their feet and all that sort of things.

But did he naturally gravitate to hockey because obviously he had the in with you, you would take him into locker rooms. He probably thought, even. It was a little tight that this is the coolest thing in the world, but was hockey, was that the sport that he naturally wanted to learn and wanted to start playing?

Brian Boucher: I think so. I think ho hockey, he he liked it. His cousins played it. My, my brother's son's up in Rhode Island played it. They were a little bit older than one was one year older than Tyler, and the other one was four years older. Tyler had some role models that were close to his [00:07:00] age that he, he could relate to with that.

My family growing up was a hockey family. My dad was, he was baseball and hockey in our house. We didn't watch basketball, so he hadn't really no choice, and I think he just gravitated towards it. I got him his first pair of skates when he was two years old. I think somebody as a gift gave it to me, a friend of.

And I got a tip from the current general manager of the of the Phoenix Coyote, Arizona Coyotes right now. Bill Armstrong, who he spent his off seasons in Rhode Island. I got to know him from skating here in the off seasons and such. He gave me a tip. He said, Hey. He's Get Tyler to put those skates on and put skate guards on those hard plastic skate.

And have him walk around the house as a little guy. So at two and a half years old, that's exactly what I did. I took his advice, I put the skates on, I put the plastic skate guards on, and Tyler would rip around the house, he'd run around. [00:08:00] And then eventually we were, I was playing in Scotts in Arizona at the time.

So here we are in Scottsdale's. Beautiful out, in November, December. Tyler was out in the cul-de-sac running around with his hockey skates on and skate guards, and my neighbors are looking at me like I'm some whacked out parent that's trying to get his kid to play hockey at, two and a half years old.

But I think he, he felt comfortable with the skates on and that seems to get him started, yeah, 

John Boruk: that's a good point because, you usually, you're out there and they're pushing around one of those little metal contraptions that they have anything just to get them, because I.

My hands underneath his arms. And I said, If you don't start to learn this, I'm done. I'm not, I can't do this anymore. 

Brian Boucher: Your back can't do anymore. 

John Boruk: Yeah. My, yeah, I, at my age, my back was about to go out as well, so I know exactly what you're thinking. And that's a great idea. You put the skate guards on, they can run around without tearing anything up and I love it.

Yeah. Yeah. But then I, I watched you obviously [00:09:00] as you started coaching Triple A and there's a lot of challenges that come with that. And he, you mentioned mind score. Did he start playing triple A at scorer or was that after he, he got to the peewee level? 

Brian Boucher: So we were in  Carolina.

He did learn to play hockey in Vorhees with Flyers Youth early on. So that's very, very low key. House, league, not much travel. That was all good. And then I signed in Carolina two years and that was his first year squirt. And that was not triple A, that was actually squirt a that he played when we went to Carolina.

And a fantastic group of people over there is totally chill. They were not they weren't like super into it, but they were they were, they had fun when you went on a little road trip to Charlotte down the road. So you got like a, the feeling of what [00:10:00] competitive hockey could be, but in a setting that was really really Tom for the kids, the kids all got along. It was great fun and I think that was a great experience. Tyler had a great coach. A guy by the name of Lee Kimball who just really was great with the kids and Tyler loved him, and I think. That moment in Carolina, that was the hook for him, to be honest with you.

And it wasn't until we returned to Philadelphia when I returned, I came back, it was like one of my four trips back here that we made a decision, the kids that he'd learned, that he'd done learned to skate and learn a hockey at flyers youth. Were now playing at Comcast AAA.

And that's where we got started. So I think Tyler technically would've been LA like a squirt major like his last year of Squirt. But he played a year up to play PeeWee minor with his friends that he started to learn to play hockey with. So it was a tough decision for me cause I was like, Man, I don't know if we [00:11:00] wanna make that commitment just yet.

But he was at the age where he wanted to be with his old buddies. So that's how we got started in AAA and never looked back after that. 

John Boruk: So essentially and starting and look at parents start chasing AAA from the time that they're squirt minors. You see it all the time. You weren't necessarily the case, but he did play up in age group and I think that sometimes parents want their kid to play up.

They hear the stories of Sidney Crosby who played a couple of years up when he was going through youth hockey. But when you became a coach, and I really want to get into this because there's so many different elements and aspects of coaching and what you have to deal with, sometimes, I, you wonder, how is my son going respond to me when I am the coach?

Is he gonna take me seriously? Is he gonna respond like some of the other kids? Cuz the kids, I would have to think his teammates look up to you, will look up to you and say, Yeah, he's an NHL player. He knows what he is talking about. [00:12:00] Son doesn't always think that way. 

Brian Boucher: Yeah. It definitely creates an interesting dynamic.

And I'm not gonna say that I was perfect at at all. During that time when I coached him I was I was probably at times a little too hard on him over certain things. And I probably, as looking back, I probably should have just let him be a kid. Now with regards to playing, I don't know that I would recommend it for everybody.

The reason why we did it was be it was solely based on the fact that they didn't have a lot of numbers for that upcoming team for that Pew team. And there was, there, there genuinely was a real spot available for him because they just didn't have enough kids. And it just so happened that several of those kids that were on that team were kids that he.[00:13:00] 

Learned to skate, learn to play hockey with over in, for keys. So it was like one of those perfect situations where it's his buddies and they have a spot, but we, we weren't forcing. I was really like, Oh boy, I don't know if we should do this. And it ended up being, it ended up being fine, but realistically he probably should have stayed at Sport Major that year.

Just from a development standpoint, a confidence standpoint. You're going up with kids that were playing AAA for a couple years and you're trying to catch a move and train. And I think that's where I I think maybe at times I had my foot on the gas a little bit too much on him at times when he was a kid and I.

I kick myself over that a little bit because I, I think that you only get those years once with your kids, to coach them. And you certainly wanna make it in an enjoyable experience. And I don't wanna say it wasn't enjoyable, but I just feel like I don't know how you are as a parent, but sometimes, I look back [00:14:00] and I say, Gosh, I wish I just could have done that a little bit differently.

But you don't have a playbook going into it. And, you as you look back you always wish you could have. Done a, but if, maybe if I do it differently too, maybe he's not the competitor that he is or what not. So who knows? But it certainly you just hope you didn't make any missteps along the way.

John Boruk:  When you say that you felt like that maybe you coached him a little too tough or you pushed him a little too much? What do you mean when, what aspect did after a game, he's coming off the ice and you evaluate his play? Or if you, I guess if you had to dial it back, how would you have done?

Brian Boucher: I don't know. It wasn't like style of player or anything like that. It was just like it's like little things like, behavior stuff, right? At a, at a young age you try, you want your, you want them to be good models, right? You're the coach, so you expect a little bit more than if it's a behavior thing [00:15:00] or paying attention in line, or, paying attention to a drill.

, if your son is the one that is killing the drill at. You know what I mean? And you designed the drill. You like, how does that happen? Was he not sitting at home watching you drop the practice plan when in reality he was not. He was actually probably out in the driveway doing his own thing, just like any other kid.

But you just, I think the expectation is just there that you expect a little more from 'em, so you're you don't want 'em to mess up the drill, like little things like that. But no, as far as if you made a. Playing wise talking a game of mistakes, but it's just comes down to me it was more about behavior and how you carried yourself, around the rink.

But at the end of the day, they're kids and that's where I look back and I. Geez, I probably could have probably taken my foot off the gas just to ta, cause after all, they're only like 11 years old at that time. 

John Boruk: And I [00:16:00] think sometimes we have to almost take a step back and tell ourselves that they're not gonna be nhl you're not gonna, you're not breeding in NHL professional at the age of 11 and 12, but what you can do is you can burn 'em out of the game.

And I start to see that and I was talking to some parents who already have their kid playing. Pretty much year round. And they're playing for the Brick Series team, which I know that you're familiar with. And what that comes with is sometimes you're traveling seven, eight consecutive weekends and this was the 2013 team.

So these are kids that are eight, nine, and to me, I just, I don't see the value in that. All I can see is the downside. Yeah. I understand. Kids love hockey, but they have to escape. They have to have an outlet, they have to go a different direction, especially when they're that young. 

Brian Boucher: Yeah. We, so we never did the Brick.

And now I was still playing at that time, and I [00:17:00] remember we got a call from a coach. Our team was gonna be practicing because we were in New Jersey. We were gonna be practicing at Stanford, Connecticut, and I believe it was like twice a week or something like that. And he was like, he's Yeah, we practice twice a week, and I said to him, I said, I don't think we can do that. And he is like, Why not? I said number one I'm still playing. And I figured the time of year was, these practices were going, I think it was in the spring or something like that in, in preparation for the summer tournament. And I just said, it's getting on fly off time and there's no way I'm driving to Stamford, Connecticut, when I gotta, I gotta be a practice the next day and stuff like that.

And I said, my wife certainly is not gonna. If I even mentioned it to my wife, she'd be like, You're nuts. I'm not doing that. Cause it'd be like a two hour and 15 minute drive from where we lived in New Jersey. So we didn't do it. Tyler, to this day will still tease me that I didn't let him go play at the Brick because [00:18:00] almost every kid that he ended up playing with played there.

And I get it. It's a pretty cool tournament. It's a tournament that's, played in the mall. A lot of ex- NHL is when you look back. They did play in it. But what I would say is that, if you're gonna play in that tournament. I don't know that, like you said, I don't think you need to be playing seven, eight straight weeks in the summertime and preparation for this tournament.

Like at the end of the day, it's just it's a tournament. At a certain age group that at that moment feels like it's super important to the kids' development, but in the big picture, it really is not. And it's quite costly to go up there and time consuming. If you're a family that you know, money's not a problem and you've got the time to do it.

And maybe maybe you've given your kids some spotted rest leading up to it. Maybe that is a good thing for your child to do. I just know for my family it didn't work out and I wasn't about to interrupt, what I do for my job and my family to, to make it [00:19:00] happen. So we missed that on that experience.

Didn't seem to hurt Tyler. But for other people I can see why they do it and maybe it's a great time. Yeah, you can certainly see the burnout for kids at that age if they're playing, 7, 8, 10 weeks in a row leading up to that when it's really considered summertime.

John Boruk: But I think the important thing that you mentioned is do it because you enjoy it or you want it to be part of a week in a family time. Not, but don't take it, It's not a make or break situation in the long run. It's never gonna determine how far your child goes. 

Brian Boucher: I can confidently say that a tournament for a squared age child is not a make or break situation for his hockey career.

Whether you go or don't go there, and even, my examples of kids that I played with when I was a kid, they were tremendous players when they were little guys. And then as they got older, they they got passed [00:20:00] on the way by. I remembered that as a player and I kept saying to myself like, Oh, you keep things in perspective here right as you're going.

But now I have another, set of data where I saw it in kids that were you talking players playing against Tyler or with Tyler? That they were great when they were little and they fell off as they went up, up the ages. And then there were kids that were, didn't start off that great and eventually they ended.

Timing it and peaking at the right age and they turn out to be late bloomers, and they're pretty good players now. Everybody's different. Everybody's different. But there's no doubt if you got your kid playing, 50 weeks a year there's probably a chance that he is gonna get tired of playing and that passion will die out.

So I think that's the only thing you have to guard against. And if you can juggle it in a way, They can play other sports and have other interests so that when [00:21:00] they come back they're fired up to play and excited, yet they haven't fallen too far behind in a development race. Then I think that's a balance that you gotta look for.

John Boruk: So you coached for two years, I believe one year with team when you were a team, Comcast at 13 U and another year with Team Virtu at 14 

Brian Boucher: years. Is that correct? I coached three years. So I was a head coach one. And then it went to, Yeah. And then I did two years as an assistant. I, yeah, virtual and Comcast were the same thing.

They just changed names. Yeah. So three years. I coached, full on head end assistant coach. And then I eventually my job was just getting too busy with travel and I, Tyler, I was at these, I think we sent them to Avon Old Farms before in school. Yeah. 

John Boruk: So as a coach, what advice would you give parents?

Because I, I. And I've already seen it as a team manager. What advice would you give some of these overzealous parents who always it really, it's about their son's development or their [00:22:00] son's progress. And don't necessarily look at it from the standpoint that they're part of a team and make sure that he's still enjoying it because it and sometimes their individual desires get in the way of all of that.

Brian Boucher: And so I know. That one year that we were together, I saw you as a coach and it can be stressful. Yeah. Yeah. It can be because you, at the end of the day, you're trying to keep everybody happy is what you're really trying to do. And I listen I totally appreciate where parents are coming from.

I think, I don't know. I don't know of any kid that I coached in, any family that I coached where. Their their passion wasn't coming from the right place. Like it was all coming from love. That's something you gotta keep in mind too when you're thinking about, what people are going through.

I think everybody that I knew, they were all doing it out of love. Like they saw their kids were good, they [00:23:00] wanted to help 'em in any way. They wanted to really, in their competitive people and they, in order to be, in the top 1%, you've gotta be competitive. So I appreciate all.

But you have to, Yeah. You gotta put things in perspective and realize at the ages that they are that's the most I important thing. So when I look back at families that I coached, there were times where I had to have some talks with with some dads and just tell 'em, Hey, I remember there was a situation I won't name names, that there was a situation where at Notre Dame at a tournament and some of the dads were getting a little bit a little bit wild up in the stands.

And I walked around I left the bench and I walked around and I just told them I just I went up to him and I said, Guys, you're ruining it for your kids right now. Everybody knows who you are. They know which one are your kids and it's not looking good right [00:24:00] now.

And they were Yeah, I didn't yell at them. I just said, Calm I was like, So you gotta calm down, and that, that's one situation where I had to do that, but for the most part it would be, Afterwards, maybe just I joke around and just try to make fun, make light of the situation.

But really just trying to send a message that like, come on, like it we can all take a deep breath here and chill out. But there were times when I coach too, like my competitive juices get going too. Don't get me wrong, you're in a tournament and you can see the finish line and you wanna win.

The kids are all fired up. You wanna do all you can to help them win too. Your emotions are getting. As well, but you always try to make sure that you're not crossing the line. That's the most important thing when you're coaching kids and being around your kids at those ages, that you don't cross the line where you turn it into professional sports.

Cause at the end of the day, at 13 years old that's the reality of it. Yeah. 

John Boruk: You mentioned the Notre Dame tournament, that's still a big one today, but when you travel to these tournaments [00:25:00] and you're staying, whether you have to fly, it could be in Chicago area or Detroit, even up in Canada.

Sometimes I think the way that parents see this is. Look I'm spending in upwards of a thousand, 1500, maybe even $2,000 between airfare, hotels, meals, if you're driving the gas they wanna get their money's worth. And the way when they're putting in that cost basis the way that they are evaluating and they don't feel like that they're getting their money's worth is when they're gonna come down on you as a coach.

Because at that point, why did I make the investment? Why am I spending the money? And I think as a parent you almost have to realize, look there's no guarantees. You, there's no, if you wanna go there to win sometimes the coach is gonna put the best players on the ice at a certain situation.

So there's that, that double sided coin where, did you play the kids because their parents invest the money? Or are you playing the [00:26:00] kids because the kids wanna.

Brian Boucher: Yeah, I never tried to look at it as an investment personally. And when I was head coach that one year, I I told the parents like, we will play to win at the end of the season when it gets down to playoffs. I think I was like the last eight minutes of a game.

It's, I can make decisions on, on, on the bench, in a tournament if I feel it's appropriate. But I rolled lines when I was head coach and I got a lot of, I got a lot of heat for that. Parents were not happy about that. I spread the wealth around I made sure I didn't load up one line and I put, some players maybe that their caliber wasn't as high with some kids that were really good in hopes that they.

Figure it out. And that maybe the good kids could pull the other [00:27:00] ones along with them. And then the other ones had, felt like there's a carrot dangle there that they could, pick up their play as well. And I think it worked out pretty well, to be honest with you.

We, and then in the end when it got, I didn't have power play units, I just rolled the next line out. There was a power play unit. And again, I took a lot of heat for that. I thought for the most part, a lot of the kids all chipped in and I think they all felt like they were part of the team at the end of the year.

By the way, we ended up, we did end up winning the A Y H L that year. Not that I'm trying to boast about that, but, the kids really, at that time of year they, they'd been together now for seven months and they elevated their play and they played great. Goal tending was terrific.

We ended up winning. So I think it ended up being a real fun experience. But yeah, that's the, I triple A, that's the tough thing. Parents expectations are that it's gonna be like the NHL. And, that's where you gotta make sure that people aren't looking at it from an investment standpoint.

You're doing this because your child [00:28:00] enjoys it. It's good. It's good competitiveness, but you're also learning the play and the team concept. There's a lot of real good valuable le lessons that go along with being on hockey team and playing at a high level that doesn't have to necessarily be cutthroat.

But that's the toughest, that's the toughest thing you probably have to deal with as a coach at those young ages, is making sure that everybody. Understanding of what you're going to do, and then you follow through on what you're gonna do. And then that was my last year of being a head coach, and then I became an assistant coach, and then it wasn't my show.

You know what I mean? I just, I helped out and I coached it in a different manner that those next two years. 

John Boruk: Yeah. Talked to the other guy now, All right, the responsibility's not on me. Talked to him. 

 I pushed buck. Now the whole concept of hockey changes once checking is implemented.

I think it's fair to say and I remember in seeing your son and he really had this happy go lucky demeanor about him [00:29:00] and a smile on his face. But this was the pre checking and the one thing that I distinctly remember that you said is, we'll see how he responds.

Once you know you're out there and you are hitting and you're taking checks and it's almost as if it's a completely different game. How did, what did you emphasize with him when it came to checking and how did he respond? Did that take time? 

Brian Boucher: It did. And that, I could be honest with you as a parent, not as a coach or anything like that as a parent, that was a nervous year that first year of checked in, ban a minor.

You're nervous for your kids because they really don't have. A knowledge of how to receive contact and how to give out contact. And you hope they make good decisions. If they see a kid and they see numbers that they don't, they don't go at them full throttle, right?

You just think about those situations all the time and you're like, [00:30:00] Man, you just want to get out of a weekend unscathed. Everybody's healthy. And unfortunately for Tyler, there was, he he had a broken collarbone that year. It happened early in the season. He had a a fracture in his collarbone.

It was misdiagnosed. We didn't, it wasn't picked up in a, in an X. And he continued to play and he kept, he just couldn't, he'd get hit and he'd drop his stick and, I was getting frustrated cause I'm like, man, I don't know if he wants to do this contact. Turns out that it was one of my bad parenting moments where I told him, toughen up a little bit.

Hey, it's gonna happen, and then he left the game and my wife took him to the hospital, at which point they saw that he actually did have a fracture in his collarbone. And I tell you my wife who read me the Rio Act that night when when we got home.

That and even to this day, Tyler teases me about it because, he understood what I was saying to him, but he was [00:31:00] trying to convey to me that something wasn't right there. And I think he gotta listen to your son or daughter in those situations. If that happens don't have your foot on the gas too much there, right?

Like really try to make sure you get the, if you don't like the answer that you're getting from a picture go to another doctor. Make sure you find out what the problem is if they're saying is discomfort. Because when you start checking those co, those collar bones, it's very common for those injuries to happen in those 13 year old boys.

Yeah, that was a scary year. But then what ended up happening, John. He ended up hitting puberty and his physique just changed. Like he, you could just see he had a hockey body, like his his his butt, his legs like, just started to become powerful just naturally. And he started to recognize that the physical aspect of the game was something that he could [00:32:00] actually excel at.

And I think he's actually embraced that. Game now. And it's a big strength of his game. He's not the most skilled player in the world, but he's a guy that certainly is not afraid of contact and having an impact in the game that way. But it didn't happen right away. It really didn't.

It's a great case of, early on, it could have been a lot of. Humidity there, and he got through it. He went through that barrier and fought through it and now he is on the other side and he is a pretty good size kid who plays a hard game. 

John Boruk: Yeah, and it's interesting because if you look at the scouting report, anybody who's.

Obviously 17, 18, they're on the cost of being drafted. They want to develop it Here. Here's who your kid is. And they come up with a scouting report. And I hate the comparisons. I really do. I hate when any 17, any teenagers compared to an NHL player completely unfair on both ends. But I think probably fair to say that he has a style that emulates, say a Tom Wilson.

[00:33:00] Who Tom Wilson was obviously a first round pick of the Washington Capitals because he does have that physical element that he brings, to the ice. But you brought up a good point is once he hit puberty, the whole thing changes, which makes me think, at what point does it really matter, ? And because once they hit puberty it's a whole different game.

And whatever their skillset was prior to that. Once they grow into their body and their body's mature, he's about your height now, what, 6 1 62 over 200 pounds. So yeah. Whatever his style was prior to that, once he turned 15, 16, it almost took on a whole completely different form.

Brian Boucher: Yeah, it, everything changes once puberty arrives. And that's, and I think what some scouts do, Is they will look at mom and dad. Okay. When they go watch a game, especially if they're scouting kids that are in peewee [00:34:00] because they there, believe it or not, there are some scouts that are there for various reasons, for various camps or whatnot.

They are tracking some of these players as crazy as me seem, But, and also there are agents that are doing it because they're trying to find it. Cause they gotta get, they. Dip into the pool a lot quicker or a lot sooner to find the, that player that Sydney Crosby you don't get 'em at 17, You gotta get 'em a lot sooner.

But they're looking at mom and dad. And if mom and dad are a certain size and they know the kid is, it saves mom and dad are, they're tall people or dad's over six foot and. There's pretty good likelihood of that. The kid's gonna grow into that, some form of that, right?

So that, that's where I think they start to, project what a kid could be. But it's all guesswork until the kid actually hits puberty. And then he might be a big size kid, but does he does he shy away from contact? You know what I mean? That's a [00:35:00] whole nother thing. Now, if he better be a super skilled player if he's gonna shy away from contact, because if you're six two I think they would expect some element of your game to be one that, can get through physical part of the games.

I'm not saying you're gonna go run people through the wall, but certainly not shy away from it. Yeah, you don't know. And so if puberty, but I will say this, pre puberty, I think you can harness the passion to play the love of the. And there are elements of confidence that you can gain early on in your development that are important, that can carry you through for a long time.

Like you're skating, right? Your edge work you're sick handling stuff like that. You can all work on those things in a safe environment where there is no contact. You know what I mean? And you can get good at it. And then once you hit puberty, you can, now you introduce the other form of the game, which is the physical.

But if you have got the confidence to hang on to prox or [00:36:00] make plays or you're a good skater and you can escape pressure, all those things could be accomplished before you hit puberty. So I think, those are important things to focus on at that age. If you don't end up growing, if you say, if you stop at five foot four, as much as the game has become more skilled and it's about skating, it's gonna be more difficult just at that size.

But if you get up to 5 10, 5 11, and you have that skill set where you're, you could skate and you got great hands. And you can escape the physicality. You got a great chance to play nowadays. Whereas probably 15, 20 years ago that wasn't the case. You had to be six one or more. But the game has changed in that regard and I think it's cuz there's been a lot more emphasis on the skillset prior to puberty hitting.

John Boruk:  What did you emphasize with him when he was a youngster? Some of those things that you could just do on your own. Did you tell him to go into the basement? Obviously we know the story of SI Crosby shooting pucks, [00:37:00] into an old washing machine when he was a kid up in Nova Scotia.

But did you ever sit there and remind. Because I think as a parent they have to drive the bus on this. Like they, they're the ones that have to be motivated. You can't sit there and be harping on him, Hey, go down there, go work on, on roller blades. Go down there and shoot some pucks, whatever it is that you do.

Did he do that a lot?

Brian Boucher: He didn't do it a ton. And I never said to him to go do it. Never once I would say to my wife, I said he's a little bit different than I was when I was a kid. I was the youngest of four, and oftentimes my old, my next oldest brother was six years older than. If he played with me, that was like, it was like amazing.

That was a great day if my brother wanted to play with me, but oftentimes he wanted to go out with his friends and do his thing, so I was left alone. [00:38:00] So I would, I had an imagination. I'd go in the driveway and play game seven by myself, right? Or I'd play floor hockey by myself. I was in a lot of ways, almost like an only child.

So my imagination took me to places and I would do that. Tyler's he's got a younger. He wouldn't play with him, but he didn't have the same he didn't have the same idea or mindset as me to do that as a young kid. So I just said to my wife and said, He's different than me. Like I was, I would play by myself and go and pretend and act like he was game seven and dream about playing in the nhl.

And he did it a little bit differently. But to be honest with you, I look at him, and I think he's got so much more talent in his body than I ever did. He's a way better athlete than I ever was. He's a, he was a great baseball player as a young kid. He was awesome in little league. And unfortunately the collarbone, I think, hurt him in baseball.

That was his throwing arm, and he just it hurt. And then that's eventually how he got out of baseball. Because [00:39:00] just the discomfort that he had throwing that one. And he focused on hockey, but I never told him to go shoot p I never, he would play, he would play his Xbox and play, play NHL there.

He would play floor hockey if friends came over, but I never said to him to go do anything. He just played all different sports and eventually he gravitated towards hockey and fell in love with wanting to be a hockey player. It's 

John Boruk: interesting that you say that he's more skilled than you were as a kid because you're pretty darn good.

We, we played golf. You easily can shoot in the seventies you were in little league baseball and I think you've told me the story, how close you came to the Little League World Series. So you have that natural ability as well, and it certainly helps to pass down the genes from one generation to the next.

So it's interesting to hear you say that he's a more skilled athlete, which brings up really the importance of, I think that the number. 95% of the kids that are in the NHL are [00:40:00] multi-sport athletes and the importance of not just focusing on one sport, getting out there, trying stuff, because you can develop all different type of skill sets at whatever age, but it's, some of that footwork translates over whether you're playing lacrosse or baseball or whatever the case.

Brian Boucher: Yeah. And I was huge on that when he was up until he broke his collar went up until he was 13 or 14. He played baseball. And I was big on that. Like I, I looked forward to baseball season and I think if you interviewed him and asked him, he would tell you that maybe the most fun years of his life was playing Little League Baseball in afield.

They had some pretty good all star teams. We're played pretty competitively and he had a great experience there. And he, like I said, he was a, I thought he was a really good baseball player. He caught, he could hit the [00:41:00] baseball. He hit the ball a mile. And he had so much fun and joy playing there, so how do you take him out of that element?

So I was big on that. And we put the gear away in the spring, like we certainly did. And you could go around and. People that we played with, they would, and they would back me up on this. I was big on that. Like I, Tyler would not play spring league hockey.

He he only did baseball and I think it helped him with his athletic, with his athleticism. And then also too, where they went to elementary school in Haddenfield. Every day after school I couldn't get Tyler to leave the schoolyard. He stayed there for two hours, three hours. Sometimes old school like this was like reminding me of my childhood, like where you just played outside with all your friends.

They played football, they played basketball, they played stickball. All those sports, you can't tell me that didn't develop athleticism playing in that environment. Un coached. There's [00:42:00] kids doing it the way we used to do it back in the day, and they had a lot of fun. So you put that with the Lil League baseball.

And then the hockey, obviously I think they're good athletes in hockey and that's what you get. He's a good golfer. He can hit the, he can hit the golf ball. I always tried to get him to play tennis, but he just didn't have an interest as a kid. Funny thing is Now that he is like getting close to pro hockey, he's played a lot of tennis this summer.

He's Oh man, what a great game. But if I asked him to play at 10 years old, he would've laughed at me, but now he sees the appreciation, the footwork the agility, the stamina to play that game, and how it translates for hockey and training. So all those things, if you can get your kid to play those sports soccer, or.

Even if it's for two, three months I think they're gonna be a better athlete for it. Yeah. 

John Boruk: Real quickly too, and I'm sure people are wondering, as they're listening, saying Brian was a goalie, why didn't Tyler develop into a goalie? Is that something that, Did you ever [00:43:00] steer him in that direction at first, or did he just have zero interest?

Brian Boucher: Oh, he had interest. He wanted to play gold. Bad mom was the one that said, There's no way that he's playing goalie. She said, I had enough ulcers that went, grew in my stomach, from you playing in Philadelphia. She's I'm not reliving that experience with him. So that was the best thing that ever happened.

She was she was hell bent that he was not gonna be a goalie, and I promise her, I said, I'll do my best to. Get him to not play. And it turns out all he ever wanted was just the gear. He wanted pads and he wanted a. So he, he kept asking and asking. He played a few, where when they're younger they, they switch positions and stuff like that.

But the minute I got him pads glove from Vaughn and a goalie mask from Bauer gave it to me. It's one of the perks being Ahl. They gave it to you as a gift. I gave it to him and that, and then it stopped. You didn't wanna [00:44:00] be a goal anymore. And if you ask him today, he's I can't believe I ever want to be a goal.

He is an absolute terror. To his goal tennis, he shoots high. I told him, I said if you and I were on the same team, and you were coming in shooting pucks at my collarbone and my throne, I said, we would have a problem. You and I wouldn't think he goalie son with the way that he shoots the puck of these guys.

Cause he says there's no chance he would ever be a goalie today. 

John Boruk: Congratulations on him being selected. 10th overall, but that's the, just the start. And I know that you try to set a path and the original path was to go to Boston University maybe play a couple years. He left after one season.

Didn't seem to be. The place for him. And so I think as a parent now you probably, it's not like when he is a kid. What is your focus now as a parent? Is it more on the psychological aspect? Talking through certain through these phases, as whether it's in college, how to approach this [00:45:00] situation because.

It, there's gonna be a lot of this where as you're going through squirts and PeeWee's bans, all that, it, the game may come easy. Now you're playing with a lot of kids who have just as much, if not more talent than you. 

Brian Boucher: Yeah. To me now, it's all about just the mindset and just trying to keep him positive.

Now he's at the point where it's it's a job, it's a career, and the pressures that come along with. Trying to be a pro athlete. That's something that I can certainly empathize. It's not easy. It's not for everybody. And so I try to help him with that. When it comes to coaching now I leave it to his coaches.

I don't get involved with any of that stuff. He's figured out on his own what it takes in the off season. He spent the whole summer in Ottawa and trained up there with the Ottawa Sanders and. I think he did the right thing. I think it was important that [00:46:00] he stay there all summer, show the commitment, make a sacrifice.

Don't come home and see your buddies. Stay up there and show that you're serious about this. And so yeah, there's certain things I just leave him alone. And then there's some things when you ask for help, I get, I try to help him. But the other thing you gotta keep in mind is that as, as much as I want to help there's still that, your father's son, and I'm the guy that played, so I I'm supposed to know it all.

He almost doesn't want to take it from me, so there's, you rely on coaches, right? You rely on his agent. You rely on people that you trust that, can get the message to him so that it's not so much that I'm telling him what to. That's not what I'm trying to do.

If he asked me for help to help him, if not, I leave him. I leave him on his own and see if he can figure things out. But there's a lot of people out there that are trying to help him, takes a village to get these guys to the National Hockey League, and he is finding it [00:47:00] out that way. And, with regards to bu.

He went there with great intentions. I think it was a crazy time with Covid and 50 year seniors. There's a, there was a lot of kids there, a lot of bodies. There's a, some kids that never even played that were, that were there. And it really just became a situation where there was just a long game of players.

For me at a young age now development is the most important thing. If you're not, if you're not developing, then you gotta make sure that they are, this is different than when they're like nine, 10 years old. Now you're at the point where it's serious. If is not getting the touches, you're not getting the work that you need to get in order to get to the next level.

You gotta make, you gotta make hard decisions. It wasn't something that was easy to make, it wasn't fun to make that switch from DU to go to the Ontario Hockey League, but we felt it was. For him to play more games considering the injuries that he had in the. And get more touches and we'll see if, it plays out the way I hope it plays out.

But [00:48:00] yeah, that, that was a tough call last year. And 

John Boruk: I do feel for you as a family and for him as a player, because you lost out on that overall experience where you're sitting in a packed arena. And you get to go up on the big stage and you hear your name and all of that because of, obviously with Covid and they held a virtual draft.

And that stinks. I would've loved to have seen that for you guys because that is a moment that you'll always remember and you'll still remember it. It's just not how you know it doesn't have the fanfare that it typically. 

Brian Boucher: You're absolutely right. And this year he got a chance to go to Montreal.

He, Jake Sanderson and Ridley Greg Sanderson and Greg were drafted in the first round, in the in 2020. So they did it virtually as well. So both those years, 20 20, 20 20. In 2021 guys went to Montreal to, was a draft. And Tyler called me from there and he is Man, this is unbelievable. And you're right, they did miss out.

A [00:49:00] pretty cool moment in their hockey career. But it is what it is. It's, the last two and a half years, there's a lot of things. People hide to sacrifice and deal with a lot worse than missing the draft. So you can put it in perspective, it was a missed opportunity, but hope it is a lot more better day than 

Yeah.

John Boruk: Our, we end up every show with our phrase of the day. And this time Our phrase of the day is, you don't get a championship performance on game day without doing the work during the days, the weeks, and the months when know what Buddy is watching. And no, I think nobody knows that more than hockey players.

Brian Boucher, thank you so much for joining us on Raising a Champion. Best of luck to you and the broadcast booth. Doing an excellent job. The analysis is, It's fantastic, especially when you're breaking down gold tenders cuz you give a perspective that I think very few people, you don't get very many good golders who are really good analysts.

You do a great job and obviously with [00:50:00] Tyler a lot of expectations. He's got a really good foundation and he is got you and a great family to, as a support system. So I'm sure he's gonna do well and we wish you all the luck moving. 

Brian Boucher: Yeah. I appreciate it, John. Great to be with you.

And this is a cool podcast, man. Just, having this out there for families to listen to. I think it's it's great that you're doing this and hopefully people can Can learn a thing or two from people who've been there and done it. And it helps the kids along the way.

So great job by you as well. Thanks. All right, 

John Boruk: thanks Brian. And we'll we'll have you back on some some time down the road. You've been listening to Raising a Champion with John Boruk.