Francis Joseph Bouillon (born October 17, 1975) is an American-Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

who played 14 seasons in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) for the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

and

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...

. He also played a season for

HC Ambrì-Piotta Hockey Club Ambrì-Piotta is a Switzerland, Swiss professional ice hockey club and a member of the National League (ice hockey), National League (NL). The club was founded September 19, 1937, and is also known as "Bianco-Blu" (English: white and b ...

in the

National League A The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and is the top tier of the Swiss league system. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the league was known as National League A. During the 2018–19 season, the league ha ...

(NLA), the top-tier league in Switzerland. He is currently a Development Coach for the Montreal Canadiens.

Early life

Bouillon was born in New York City to a

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

an father and a

French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

mother. Bouillon moved to

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

with his mother when he was only 3 years old. He played

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

hockey in the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The l ...

with the

Laval Titan The Laval Titan was one of the names used by a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) franchise that played in Laval, Quebec, Canada, between 1971 and 1998. History The Rosemont National began in the 1969–70 QM ...

s and the Granby Predateurs. He was Granby's captain when they won the

1996 Memorial Cup The 1996 Memorial Cup occurred May 11–19 at the Peterborough Memorial Centre in Peterborough, Ontario. It was the 78th annual Memorial Cup competition and determined the major junior ice hockey champion of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). P ...

Playing career

Francis made his professional debut the 1996–97 season in the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

with the

Wheeling Nailers The Wheeling Nailers are a professional ECHL ice hockey team based in Wheeling, West Virginia. They are the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey Lea ...

and played the following season in the IHL with the

Quebec Rafales The Atlanta Knights were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the International Hockey League (1945–2001), International Hockey League from 1992 to 1996. The Knights were based in Atlanta, and played at the Omni Coliseum. In 1994 the ...

before he was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

to an NHL contract by the

in 1998. He played the next 11 seasons, the majority of his career (except for a short stint with the Predators in 2002–03) within the Canadiens organization. At 5'8" and 194 lbs, Bouillon is considered small for an NHL defenseman but is never one to shy away from physical play. According to

Pierre Houde Pierre Houde (born July 14, 1957) is a Canadian play-by-play sports announcer for RDS. He has announced broadcasts of Montreal Canadiens games since 1989. Over the years he was partnered with Pierre Bouchard and Yvon Pedneault. From 2007 to 2011 ...

, he is one of the strongest players in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

as shown by official physical tests. On September 30, 2009, just prior to the 2009–10 season, Bouillon was signed to a one-year contract as a late inclusion to the Nashville Predators after joining the team on a tryout for training camp. In returning to the Predators after an initial four-game stint in 2002, Bouillon established himself within the Predators defense as a stay-at-home defenseman to appear in 81 games, missing only a single game, for 3 goals and 11 points. On June 18, 2010, he signed a two-year extension to remain with the Predators. On July 1, 2012, Bouillon signed a one-year deal worth $1.5 million with the Montreal Canadiens. His play during that season earned him a one-year extension with the team. Following the 2013–14 season, the Canadiens declined to offer Bouillon a contract and on July 1, 2014, he became an unrestricted free agent. Bouillon attended the Canadiens' training camp for the 2014–15 season on a tryout, but was released by the team on October 6, 2014. On October 14, 2014, he signed with

in the Swiss

. He announced his retirement on September 25, 2015.

Personal life

Francis is separated from his wife Ginette with whom he has two sons, Michael and Anthony. Bouillon resides in Montreal with his girlfriend.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bouillon, Francis 1975 births Living people African-American ice hockey players HC Ambrì-Piotta players American emigrants to Canada American men's ice hockey defensemen American people of French-Canadian descent American sportspeople of Haitian descent Canadian sportspeople of Haitian descent Granby Prédateurs players Ice hockey players from New York (state) Ice hockey people from Quebec City Laval Titan Collège Français players Laval Titan players Leksands IF players Memorial Cup winners Montreal Canadiens coaches Montreal Canadiens players Montreal Roadrunners players Nashville Predators players Quebec Citadelles players Quebec Rafales players Sportspeople from New York City Undrafted National Hockey League players Wheeling Nailers players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople