SYDNEY, N.S. — Xavier Bouchard is no stranger to spending quality time at hockey arenas.
From the time he was born, the Cape Breton Eagles defenceman would go to the rink to watch his father Gilles Bouchard coach at the midget ‘AAA’, university and major junior levels.
Bouchard would watch his father’s players closely every game, hoping to learn more about the sport and how to one day become a professional.
Although Gilles Bouchard went on to coach many great hockey players in his career, which continues today in the American Hockey League, Xavier credits Montreal Canadiens forward Phillip Danault and retired player Michaël Bournival for teaching him many lessons.
“I really looked up to them as athletes on and off the ice, they were always very professional,” said Xavier Bouchard, noting the players played for his father with the Trois-Rivières Estacades midget 'AAA' team.
“Those guys were really serious about hockey and they showed me what it took to make it to the NHL, I knew they’d be great hockey players one day and it was the case.”
Bouchard believes watching his father coaching at high levels provided him with first-hand experience about the demands of becoming a professional hockey player.
Bouchard says his father is his role model and the reason he’s still playing the sport today.
“With him coaching, I see it as an advantage for me when it comes to getting feedback on my game,” said Bouchard. “Having my father help me and being able to watch the players he coached, it was really a path to success for me.”
Bouchard played the majority of his minor hockey in his hometown of Trois-Rivières, Que.
At age 14, he moved to Rouyn-Noranda, Que., when his father became the head coach and general manager of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in 2013-14. He finished his minor hockey career in Rouyn-Noranda.
“I started playing as a forward, but I switched to defence when I was 12 years old,” said Bouchard. “I always wanted to have the play in front of me and my father told me it would be best to try playing defence and it was the right choice.”
Bouchard would suit up for the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies bantam ‘AAA’ team. He later moved an hour away to Amos to play midget ‘AAA’ and lived with a billet family.
“It was a tough year for us, we struggled on the ice, but I think the experience really prepared me for what was next and what was to come in my hockey career,” said Bouchard.
“It was the first time I was away from my parents, so I think it really helped develop my game and understanding of what professional hockey life would be like.”
In June 2016, Bouchard was selected by the rebuilding Baie-Comeau Drakkar with the fifth overall pick at the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Entry Draft.
Bouchard earned a spot on the Drakkar roster as a 16-year-old, finishing the year with 34 points in 63 games.
“I had a little bit of pressure on me because I was a first-round pick, but I learned pretty quickly that we all have pressure as hockey players, so I didn’t think much about it,” said Bouchard.
The following year, Bouchard was named an assistant captain with the Drakkar as a 17-year-old, proving his leadership qualities.
“We had a core of great young players and the team wanted to give us leadership roles right from the start,” said Bouchard. “They wanted to prove that leadership doesn’t come with age and that we can be leaders, even with older guys in the room.”
Bouchard went on to play three-and-a-half seasons with the Drakkar, notching 18 goals and 93 assists for 111 points.
During his time in Baie-Comeau, Bouchard was drafted by the Vegas Golden Knights in the sixth-round, No. 185 overall, at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.
“It was a dream come true for me to get a step closer to where I wanted to be,” said Bouchard, who has attended the Nevada-based team’s main training camp the past two seasons.
“It was one of the places I really wanted to go, and it’s turned out to be the best thing for me.”
In December, Bouchard was traded to the Eagles for defenceman Alex Falardeau and two second-round draft picks, in a deal Cape Breton hoped would solidify the team’s blue-line — they weren’t wrong.
Bouchard made an immediate impact on the Eagles’ defence core, both offensively and defensively. He has 24 points in 20 games and is currently on the team’s top pairing with Adam McCormick and also kills penalties.
Bouchard admits there are some similarities between this year’s Eagles team and last year’s Drakkar, who were expected to be contenders for the President Cup but were stunned with a first-round playoff loss to the Moncton Wildcats.
“If you look at the standings and the statistics, I think it’s pretty similar,” said Bouchard. “I think we have a much better playoff team with all our big players — we have a lot of depth at forward and defence, so I think it’s going to be an exciting playoff run.”
Bouchard and the Eagles will face one of their toughest opponents of the season today when they host projected 2020 NHL first overall draft pick, Alexis Lafrenière and the Rimouski Océanic.
Game time is 7 p.m. at Centre 200 in Sydney.
The Océanic (35-15-4-4) have been one of the hottest teams in the league recently, despite losing back-to-back games this week to Moncton and Halifax.
Lafrenière has had a strong month of February, recording five goals and 12 assists in seven games, including a seven-point performance against Quebec last Sunday.
Cape Breton is 7-3-0-0 in its last 10 games and Bouchard doesn’t expect the team to slow down anytime soon as they chase the Océanic for third place in the Eastern Conference.
“We’re going to keep grinding it out every game and take things one game at a time,” said Bouchard. “We’ll see what happens, but we know this is going to be a fun ride to the playoffs.”
XAVIER BOUCHARD
• Hometown: Trois-Rivières, Que.
• Age: 19
• Position: Defence
• Height: 6’3”
• Weight: 201
• Team: Cape Breton Eagles (QMJHL)
• QMJHL Draft: Selected fifth overall pick by the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in 2016
• NHL Draft: Selected in the sixth-round, No. 185 overall, by the Vegas Golden Knights in 2018
CAREER STATISTICS
• 2014-15 – Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (bantam ‘AAA’) – GP: 25 – Goals: 6 – Assists: 7 – Points: 13 – PIM: 18
• 2015-16 – Amos Forestiers (midget ‘AAA’) – GP: 45 – Goals: 5 – Assists: 17 – Points: 22 – PIM: 20
• 2016-17 – Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL) – GP: 63 – Goals: 4 – Assists: 30 – Points: 34 – PIM: 26
• 2017-18 – Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL) – GP: 65 – Goals: 3 – Assists: 18 – Points: 21 – PIM: 52
• 2018-19 – Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL) – GP: 60 – Goals: 7 – Assists: 39 – Points: 46 – PIM: 75
• 2019-20 – Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL) – GP: 31 – Goals: 4 – Assists: 6 – Points: 10 – PIM: 37
• 2019-20 – Cape Breton Eagles (QMJHL) – GP: 20 – Goals: 2 – Assists: 22 – Points: 34 – PIM: 20
Twitter: @CBPost_Jeremy
