Gilles Bouchard (born February 28, 1971) is a Canadian ice hockey coach with the Syracuse Crunch in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

. He previously coached the

Rouyn-Noranda Huskies The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies are a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League based in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, Canada. The team plays its home games at the Aréna Glencore. The Huskies finished first overall in the QMJHL, durin ...

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 ...

(QMJHL) for five seasons. In the 2015–16 QMJHL season, he led the Huskies to the

Jean Rougeau Trophy The Jean Rougeau Trophy is awarded annually to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team that records the most points in the regular season. The trophy was named for former league president Jean Rougeau. Winners See also *Hamilton Spectator Tro ...

as regular season champions, the

President's Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar but considerably ...

as playoffs champions, and reached the final in the

2016 Memorial Cup The 2016 Memorial Cup (branded as the 2016 Mastercard Memorial Cup for sponsorship reasons) was a four-team, round-robin format tournament that took place at the ENMAX Centrium in Red Deer, from May 20–29, 2016. It was the 98th Memorial Cup cha ...

. After that season, Bouchard was awarded the Ron Lapointe Trophy as the QMJHL Coach of the Year, the

Maurice Filion Trophy The Maurice Filion Trophy is awarded annually to the general manager of the Year 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, ' ...

as the QMJHL Executive of the Year, and the Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award for the Canadian Hockey League.

Early life

Gilles Bouchard was born on February 28, 1971, in

Normandin, Quebec Normandin is a city located on the west side of Lac Saint-Jean in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. Normandin is named after the Surveying, surveyor Joseph-Laurent Normandin. Its history of European-Canadian ...

, and grew up on the local family farm.

Playing career

Bouchard played three seasons as a winger in the

(QMJHL) from 1988 to 1991, with the

Shawinigan Cataractes The Shawinigan Cataractes (french: Cataractes de Shawinigan) are a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The team is based in Shawinigan, Quebec, Canada. The Cataractes have been previously known as the Shawinigan Bruin ...

, the

Trois-Rivières Draveurs The Trois-Rivières Draveurs ("Raftmen") were a Canadian junior ice hockey team playing in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). They played home games at the Colisée de Trois-Rivières, in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. The team was origina ...

, the

Beauport Harfangs The Beauport Harfangs (Snow Owls) were a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) from 1990 to 1997. The team played its home games at the Aréna Marcel-Bédard in the Quebec City suburb of Beauport. The team's firs ...

, and the Chicoutimi Saguenéens. He was traded to Chicoutimi partway through the

1990–91 QMJHL season The 1990–91 QMJHL season was the 22nd season in the history of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The league inaugurates the St-Clair Group Plaque, awarded to the "Marketing Director of the Year." Dilio and Lebel divisions are restored as th ...

, and played in the

1991 Memorial Cup The 1991 Memorial Cup occurred May 11–19 at the Colisée de Québec in Quebec City, Quebec. It was the 73rd annual Memorial Cup competition and determined the major junior ice hockey champion of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). Participa ...

under coach Jos Canale. After junior hockey, he played two seasons for the

Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières The Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) (''English: University of Quebec in Trois-Rivières''), also known as "l'université du peuple", established in 1969 and mainly located in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada, is a public universi ...

(UQTR), then later played four seasons in the

Quebec Semi-Pro Hockey League 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 thirteen p ...

Coaching career

Early years

Bouchard coached AAA midget hockey from 1998 to 2012. He spent four seasons with the Trois-Rivières Estacades as an assistant coach from 1998 to 2002, two seasons as the head coach of the Bois-Francs Cascades Espoir from 2002 to 2004, and eight seasons as head coach of the Trois-Rivières Estacades from 2004 to 2012. He did not pursue coaching at a higher level sooner due to a desire to stay closer to his family, and establish a teaching position in charge of AAA midget and sport studies. Bouchard served as head coach of the

UQTR Patriotes The UQTR Patriotes are the athletic teams that represent the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada. The university features teams in swimming, golf, hockey, soccer, cross-country, volleyball and cheerleadi ...

for the 2012–13

Canadian Interuniversity Sport U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Ca ...

season. He successfully rebuilt the Patriotes, and led the team to its first

Queen's Cup The Queen's Cup was an annual football cup competition in Thailand, run by the Football Association of Thailand. The competition was named after Queen Sirikit. It was first contested in 1970, with Bangkok Bank and Royal Thai Air Force joint win ...

championship since 2007, with a five-game victory over the

Waterloo Warriors The Waterloo Warriors are the athletic teams that represent the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The Warriors have found success over certain spans in football, hockey, rugby, golf and basketball among others, and the Warrior ...

Rouyn-Noranda Huskies

Bouchard served as head coach and general manager of the

in the

for five seasons from 2013–14 to 2017–18. He succeeded André Tourigny for the

2013–14 QMJHL season The 2013–14 QMJHL season is the 45th season of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The regular season consisted of 18 teams playing 68 games each, beginning on September 12, 2013, and ending on March 15, 2014. Team changes *The P.E. ...

. Bouchard felt that his background coaching midget hockey helped him quickly adapt to the QMJHL. He led the Huskies to fifth place in the west division, and tenth overall in the regular season. In the playoffs, the Huskies defeated the

Quebec Remparts There have been two junior ice hockey franchises known as the Quebec Remparts (french: Remparts de Québec) that played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The first edition played from 1969 to 1985; the current franchise has pla ...

four games to one in the first round, then lost in four games to the

Baie-Comeau Drakkar The Baie-Comeau Drakkar is a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League that plays at Centre Henry-Leonard in Baie-Comeau, Quebec, Canada. The name "Drakkar" refers to a type of longship. History The Drakkar first played in ...

in the second round. In the

2014–15 QMJHL season The 2014–15 QMJHL season is the 46th season of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The regular season consisted of eighteen teams playing 68 games each, beginning on September 10, 2014, and ending on March 22, 2015. Regular season st ...

, Bouchard led the Huskies to fourth place in west division, and eleventh overall in the regular season. The Huskies lost to the

Val-d'Or Foreurs The Val-d'Or Foreurs are a junior ice hockey team based in Val-d'Or, in the region of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Quebec, Canada. The team was founded for the 1993–94 season of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, a member of the Canadian Hock ...

in six games in the first round of the playoffs. Bouchard led the Huskies to 113 points in the 2015–16 QMJHL season, winning the

as the top team in the QMJHL. In the playoffs, the Huskies defeated the

Drummondville Voltigeurs The Drummondville Voltigeurs are a junior ice hockey team of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The franchise was originally granted for the 1982–83 season, and is based in Drummondville, Quebec, Canada, playing its home games at ...

in four games in the first round, defeated the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada in five games in round two, defeated the

Moncton Wildcats The Moncton Wildcats are a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League from Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. The franchise was granted for the 1995–96 season, known as the Moncton Alpines for one season, and as the Wildca ...

in six games in round three, then defeated the Shawinigan Cataractes in five games in the finals. The playoff victory was the first

for the Huskies, and qualified the team for the

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...

. Bouchard was awarded the

as the QMJHL general manager of the year, and the Ron Lapointe Trophy as the QMHL coach of the year. He was the first person in the league's history to win both awards in the same season. Bouchard led the Huskies to the

, and defeated the

Brandon Wheat Kings The Brandon Wheat Kings are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Brandon, Manitoba. They are members of the Western Hockey League (WHL) since joining the league in the 1967–68 season. Previously, they played in the Manitoba Junior Hocke ...

by a 5–3 score in game one. The Huskies lost game two to the

Red Deer Rebels The Red Deer Rebels are a Western Hockey League junior ice hockey team based in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. The Rebels play at the Peavey Mart Centrium. History A "Name the Team" contest ran in Red Deer from October 7 to 17, 1991. The top t ...

by a 5–2 score, and lost game three to the

London Knights The London Knights are a junior ice hockey team from London, Ontario, Canada, playing in the Ontario Hockey League, one of the leagues of the Canadian Hockey League. The Knights started out in 1965 as the London Nationals but changed to their cu ...

by the same 5–2 score. In the cup semifinals, the Huskies pulled out a 3–1 win over Red Deer to reach the championship game. The Huskies were tied 2–2 with London after regulation time in the Memorial Cup final, but lost in overtime. After the Memorial Cup, Bouchard was awarded the Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award as the top overall coach in the Canadian Hockey League. Bouchard led the Huskies to another first-place finish in the west division for the 2016–17 QMJHL season, and second overall in the QMJHL. In the playoffs, the Huskies defeated the

Halifax Mooseheads The Halifax Mooseheads are a Canadian major junior ice hockey club in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The team was founded in 1994 and began play in the Dilio Division of the QMJHL from the ...

four games to two in the first round, then lost to the Chicoutimi Saguenéens in seven games in round two. In the 2017–18 QMJHL season, the Huskies placed third in the west division and seventh overall in the league, but lost to the

Sherbrooke Phoenix The Sherbrooke Phoenix is a major junior ice hockey team based in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, that plays in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The team plays its home games at the Palais des Sports Léopold-Drolet. History The franchi ...

in seven games in the first round of the playoffs. During the 2018 playoffs, Bouchard was fined $1,000 by the QMJHL for inappropriate statements to the media, in which he brought an injured played with a bloody nose to a post-game press conference. In five seasons and 340 regular season games, Bouchard won 204 games as head coach of the Huskies.

National team duties

Bouchard coached for Hockey Canada three times with the under-17 team. He was an assistant coach with Canada Red at the 2014 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, an assistant coach with Canada White which won the gold medal at the 2015 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, and was the head coach of Canada Red which won the silver medal at the 2017 World U-17 Hockey Challenge. Bouchard was selected to be head coach for the

Canada men's national under-18 ice hockey team The Canadian men's national under 18 ice hockey team is part of a three-stage Program of Excellence beginning with the Under-17 regional teams and ending with the National Junior Team. The primary objectives of the Under-18 program are to identif ...

at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in 2018. He resigned as head coach when hired to coach professional hockey.

Syracuse Crunch

On June 26, 2018, Bouchard was announced as an assistant coach to Benoit Groulx on the Syracuse Crunch in the

, replacing

Jeff Halpern Jeffrey Craig Halpern (born May 3, 1976) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played for the Washington Capitals twice, Dallas Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, and Phoenix Co ...

. Bouchard was signed to a three-year contract by

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

general manager

Julien BriseBois Julien BriseBois (born January 24, 1977) is a Canadian ice hockey executive. He is the general manager for the Tampa Bay Lightning in the National Hockey League (NHL) and their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. Caree ...

in the week following the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.

Coaching record

Season-by-season coaching statistics:

Personal life

Bouchard's son Xavier Bouchard, was drafted by the

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. Founded in 2017 as an expa ...

in the sixth round of the

2018 NHL Entry Draft The 2018 NHL Entry Draft was the 56th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 22–23, 2018, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The 2018 NHL Entry Draft was the second of two professional sports drafts to be held in the Dalla ...

. Bouchard briefly coached his son at the AAA midget level.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouchard, Gilles 1971 births Living people Beauport Harfangs players Canadian ice hockey coaches Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL) players French Quebecers Ice hockey people from Quebec People from Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean Rouyn-Noranda Huskies coaches Shawinigan Cataractes players Syracuse Crunch Trois-Rivières Draveurs players Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières alumni U Sports coaches U Sports men's ice hockey