Originally posted Feb 22, 2019.
It’s hard for 17-year-olds to make a big impact inside a Western Hockey League dressing room. Despite being undersized and a low draft pick, Connor Bouchard of the Tri-City Americans is pulling it off.
“I had no idea how far I could take hockey. I just wanted to keep pushing and play at the highest level possible,” said Bouchard.
Growing up in Cochrane, Alta., Bouchard moved to Penticton, B.C. for the prominent Okanagan Hockey Academy (OHA). There, he lived with his grandparents and laid the groundwork for what is turning into be a successful WHL career.
Spending three seasons with OHA, Bouchard was under the tutelage of some of the best hockey minds in B.C. Thought-provoking coaches Kip Noble, Stu Barnes and Bruno Campese showed him that there was more to hockey than toe drags and bar-down snipes.
“My coaches were unreal at OHA. They taught you how to play the right way and how to be a good teammate,” said Bouchard. “OHA also turned my life around. They taught me the importance of school and my attitude off the ice. I don’t know what I would be doing right now if it wasn’t for OHA.”
Entering the WHL Bantam Draft, Bouchard was listed at 5-foot-5 and a generous 150 pounds. He was not high on many draft boards.
“We knew he was a small player, but when we watched him at OHA, we thought he could be a nice catalyst one day,” said Americans GM Bob Tory.
Leading up to the 2016 draft, the left-handed centre was held off the score sheet in all five games at the Alberta Cup, but factored in Team South capturing the bronze medal. Leading up to the draft, all Bouchard could do was sit and wait with his fingers crossed for one team in particular.
“He was a tiny guy that worked extremely hard, exuded character and really caught our eye at OHA. As the draft went on, we got to a point and questioned, ‘why wouldn’t we take him here?’” recalled Tory. “It’s too bad that he was overlooked because of his size. He is everything our program was about and we were very fortunate to get him.”
“I was so pumped when Tri-City picked me. I knew a few of their guys like Seth Bafaro and Keltie Jeri-Leon and they said they loved it there,” said Bouchard, who was drafted in the eighth round, 161st overall. “I didn’t care where I went in the draft. There have been plenty of guys to go onto play in the NHL that weren’t drafted by the WHL. I took it as an honour and a privilege to have a team think that much of me.”
Getting drafted is one thing, making a roster is a different conversation. Bouchard debuted at training camp as a 15-year-old and returned the following September with dreams of making the team, but knew of other plans if something didn’t work out.
“I always wanted to play in the WHL. It’s the best league with the best development and the best competition,” said Bouchard. “I didn’t know I was going to make the team at 16. The plan was to go to camp and work my hardest. If they didn’t want me, my backup plan was to return to Penticton for my second year of midget.”
There was also the iconic Penticton Vees of the B.C. Hockey League who sat patiently, waiting to see how Bouchard fared at his second camp.
“At the start of camp, we knew his compete level was going to be there, but we wanted to make sure that we were doing what was best for the player. If we felt he was overmatched in any way, we would have sent him back to midget instead of keeping him here and hurting his development,” said Americans Assistant Coach Brian Pellerin, who overlapped the recent coaching change in the offseason.
With a backup plan in the queue, Bouchard went to camp at 16 trying to prove he was worthy of a spot and let it all hang loose.
“Some of those lower drafted guys are mostly just at camp for the fun and the experience. They aren’t necessarily there with serious thoughts of pushing for a roster spot,” said Parker AuCoin, who was drafted 15th overall by the Americans in 2013. “I think he came into that camp with no pressure, had some fun and worked his butt off. That’s what hockey is all about.”
Of the nine players taken by the Americans in 2016, only Bouchard, the No. 6 overall pick Sasha Mutala and the 29th overall selection Mitchell Brown cracked the roster for the 2017-18 season.
“We weren’t expecting for him to make the roster then, but he dedicated himself to his training and worked hard at camp,” said Tory.
“He showed us resiliency and made us keep him,” added Pellerin.
The Americans weren’t desperate for fresh bodies at that point either. They were coming off a 41-win campaign and were loaded with future NHL talent. By the time the trade deadline passed that year, the Americans dressed six NHL picks, including three first rounders.
“When I walked into that dressing room for the first time, it was a little intimidating,” Bouchard remembered about entering the skilled room. “But they all ended up being unreal guys and I learned so much from them.”
Even though he plays a different position, Bouchard was blown away by Jusso Välimäki’s pregame workouts. He also began stretching after each skate and workout, caring for his body the same way the overagers did.
Bouchard eventually carved out a niche centring the fourth line. His drive and tenacity never waivered. A growth spurt shot him up to 5-foot-7, which made him tower over the four shortest players in the league.
A lack of verticality hasn’t stopped him from fearlessly dive-bombing into corners against the Braydyn Chizens, Igor Merezhkos and Dakota Krebs of the WHL. More often than not, he scoots out with the puck.
Picking on somebody his own size did not compute: of his seven WHL fights, per hockeyfights.com, all have came against bigger, stronger and older players.
“Bouch plays with a ton of heart — the most I’ve ever seen in the league. He battles every night and every shift like it’s his last. He will take on anyone,” said AuCoin. “Looking back now, I can’t imagine our team at any point without him on it.”
The WHL got a taste of that moxie in 2017-18. Sprinkled in wherever possible, Bouchard tallied a pair of goals, eight points and 54 penalty minutes in 60 games during his rookie run.
“We didn’t have a lot of ice to go around last year. But, he showed us that he could listen, which allowed him to learn how to get certain jobs done,” said Pellerin.
Being buried in the depth chart is never the dream for any hockey player. The flip side in losing minutes with a talented group is that Bouchard rode shotgun in 14 playoff games last spring, as the Americans swept their way to the Western Conference Final before running into Carter Hart and the Everett Silvertips.
“Last year was the funnest time I’ve ever had playing hockey,” said the lefty. “The playoffs taught me that you can’t afford to take one shift off: one goal could decide a game and a series. I remember being tied 1-1 with Everett and in what felt like a blink, we were down 3-1.”
Dropping Game 6 in overtime brought a lot of roster uncertainty for Tory, who dressed 10 players in their 19-year-old season for the postseason.
Players graduated the league, some got promoted into the professional ranks, others were moved for roster reasons and promising prospect Isaac Johnson suddenly retired. Despite all of that, the Americans have emerged as contenders once again and are currently positioned as the third seed in the U.S. Division.
Keeping the team afloat has been players like Bouchard, who have climbed the depth chart and are carrying bigger loads.
“Being bigger and stronger like most second-year players has definitely helped him. But he is also a lot more confident this year and has continued to earn more ice time,” said Pellerin. “What makes Connor great is that when he gets opportunities on the ice, he makes the right plays. He has turned into a real reliable player for us.”
Blocking shots, finishing checks, winning draws and contributing more consistently offensively; Bouchard is doing it all this year. Bouncing up and down the lineup, he has also been used in different penalty killing and power-play roles. Through 56 games this year, he has seven goals, 29 points and 52 penalty minutes.
Off the ice, he has also blossomed into a leader in the dressing room.
“He’s much more vocal this year and more vocal than most 17-year-olds I’ve met,” said AuCoin. “He holds guys accountable but also holds himself to a really high standard, which is rare for a guy with a little over 100 games in the league, but he’s one of our leaders. No question about it.”
Left off Team Canada for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup last summer to kickstart his first year of draft eligibility, Bouchard hasn’t slowed down or let that dash his dreams of playing the in NHL one day. Why would it? He’s come this far. There’s no point in turning away now.
“Connor is a good example for younger kids about how it shouldn’t matter where you get drafted or how big you are. What’s important is to establish work habits that allow you to compete at a high level each night,” said Tory. “He has done that and a lot more for us.”
