Jesse Boulerice (born August 10, 1978) is an American 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 ...

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. Primarily playing in an enforcing role, Boulerice played the majority of his

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) career for the

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...

Background

Boulerice was born in Plattsburgh, NY, located about 25 miles south of Canada. In addition to working on his family's farm, young Boulerice loved playing hockey, leading to his father building a rink in their backyard. He played in the World Juniors with

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, winning a

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in 1997. As a junior, he also spent three years playing with Detroit and Plymouth of the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...

Playing career

Boulerice was drafted by the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wells ...

in the

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, 133rd overall. He has played for the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

and Flyers. He was charged with

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in 1998 while playing with the

Plymouth Whalers The Plymouth Whalers were a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They played out of Compuware Arena in Plymouth, Michigan, USA, a suburb of Detroit until 2015 when they were relocated to Flint, Michigan. History The Whalers ...

of the

(OHL) after a violent stick-swinging incident with

Guelph Storm The Guelph Storm are a major junior ice hockey team based in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. They have played in the OHL since the 1991–92 season. The team plays home games at the Sleeman Centre. History The franchise started as the Toronto Marlb ...

forward Andrew Long. Boulerice is known for being the victim of an Aaron Downey left hook on February 11, 2003, after failing to land the first punch, which left Boulerice with a broken jaw and a concussion. Boulerice spent the night in the hospital as his Carolina Hurricanes lost in overtime to the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and were founde ...

, 2–1. Boulerice's role as an

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was reduced later in his career due to the NHL's stricter penalties for instigating a fight, by a $10,000 fine to the coach if it occurs in the final five minutes of a game. On October 10, 2007, Boulerice delivered a

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to the face of

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forward

Ryan Kesler Ryan James Kesler (born August 31, 1984) is an American former professional ice hockey center. Selected in the first round, 23rd overall, by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, Kesler spent the first ten years of his National Hoc ...

, with his team up 7–2 in the third period. Boulerice received a 25-game suspension as disciplinary action from the league, which is tied for the fourth-longest suspension for an on-ice incident in modern NHL history. Boulerice started the 2008–09 season with the

Lake Erie Monsters The Cleveland Monsters are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). The team began play in 2007 as the Lake Erie Monsters and since 2015 has served as the top affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hock ...

of 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 Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

(AHL). On November 11, 2008, he signed a contract with the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

and while being reassigned to the Monsters, was claimed off waivers by the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

. After playing only two games with the Oilers, Boulerice was placed on waivers again, and was re-claimed by the Avalanche on November 21, 2008. Boulerice was invited to the AHL's

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, and are the AHL affiliates of the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins. They play at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre ...

training camp for the 2009–10 season. He made his presence felt and remained to sign a one-year contract with the Penguins on October 3, 2009. In 54 games with Wilkes-Barre, Boulerice tied his AHL career high with four goals and led the team with 124

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minutes. On July 29, 2010, he re-signed with the Penguins to another one-year deal. On January 7, 2011, Boulerice was suspended for 10 games for deliberately running over an AHL referee.

Personal life

After retiring from professional hockey in 2011, Boulerice became a financial advisor with Merrill-Lynch's office in

Raleigh, NC Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southea ...

. He lives in Raleigh with his wife Cailin and three children. He coaches youth hockey and serves on the board of the Raleigh Youth Hockey Association.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boulerice, Jesse 1978 births Albany River Rats players American men's ice hockey right wingers Carolina Hurricanes players Detroit Whalers players Edmonton Oilers players Lake Erie Monsters players Living people Lowell Lock Monsters players New Orleans Brass players People from Rouses Point, New York Philadelphia Flyers draft picks Philadelphia Flyers players Philadelphia Phantoms players Plymouth Whalers players St. Louis Blues players Trenton Titans players Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins players Ice hockey players from New York (state)