Henry Boucha has been labeled as the most electrifying player in Minnesota hockey history.

Also skilled in football and baseball, Boucha starred for five years at both defense and center for the Warroad High School hockey team. A tall, powerfully-built native American, an Ojibwe, Boucha led Warroad to the 1969 state tournament, where he was injured in an emotionally-charged 5-4 overtime final loss to Edina—one of the all-time classic games in “tourney” history.

“He was the most colorful hockey player ever to come out of Northern Minnesota,” said Warroad coaching legend and fellow Hall of Fame enshrinee Cal Marvin. “When he played, it was so special that he brought people out of the old folks home to come and watch him play. He did it all. He was one of a kind”

Boucha went on to play for the 1972 silver medal winning U.S. Olympic team, and at just 19, he signed with the Detroit Red Wings.

After two years in the Motor City, Boucha “came home” when the Minnesota North Stars acquired him. But his career was tragically curtailed in his third NHL season when he suffered an eye injury on Jan. 4, 1975 against Boston.

He would come back to play for the WHA’s Minnesota Fighting Saints in 1976, and then again in 1977 with the Scouts and Rockies of the NHL, but couldn’t overcome his eye injury. He retired from the game after that at just the age of 24.

Boucha would go on to play for his hometown Warroad Lakers, and then give back by donating much of his time to helping advance various Native American causes.

Note to readers: This article was reprinted from a full-featured Minnesota Hockey Magazine digital issue.  Like what you see?  Get a back issue or subscribe today on the PressPad mobile app platform for Minnesota Hockey Magazine via Apple Store, Google Play, and Kindle/Amazon.  Don’t miss out!  Get all 8 issues for this upcoming season sent directly to your email box, buy a single issue or pick up the printed version at many local stores near you.  Thanks.  MHM Staff

The post Player Profile – Henry Boucha: MN Hockey Legend appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Our hearts are heavy this morning with the news of the passing of Minnesota coaching and broadcasting legend, Glen Sonmor. Glen coached the Gophers, Fighting Saints (with whom he also served as GM) and North Stars before a long career calling Gopher games on the radio alongside Wally Shaver.

A few years ago, Glen was kind enough to grant us the privilege of sitting down with him for a series of interviews discussing his long hockey career, both on and off the ice. Below is the product of that discussion filled with fond memories and anecdotes from Glen’s lifelong love affair with the game of hockey.

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Henry Boucha as an Olympian
(Submitted Photo)

When Henry’s name was mentioned to his fellow 1972 Olympic Silver medalist team mate Ron Naslund, the first thing that came to mind was how tireless Henry was.  Naslund, a Minneapolis Roosevelt player was asked to try out for the Olympic team late in the tryout process, and as a 28 year old player, made the team. Playing against the world’s top players,  Naslund watched with amazement and recalled “Henry was just a tireless player.  I mean he never got tired.  He would kill penalties, work the power play and just keep going, just a terrific hockey player and a real good guy”.

Marv Jorde, a winner of USA Hockey’s Ironman award given to people that have tirelessly given to the game and is a story in himself that we will tell another day, was mesmerized the first time he saw Henry play.

Jorde coached the St. Paul Park Indian High School Hockey team in the 60’s and 70’s and recalled ” The first time I saw Henry Boucha play was his sophomore year.  we were playing on the Iron Range in the Holiday Classic and Boucha was playing defense.  The more I watched him, the more mesmerized I became, as not one time did he lose the puck in his defensive zone and he just controlled the game.  This was against one of my very good Park High teams (the team lost in the sectional final that year).  I watched him play the whole game as he never once came off the ice.  With the score tied 2-2 and now in overtime,

Henry Boucha with Warroad Warriors team mates
(Submitted Photo)

Henry decided it was time to end the game, and skated an end to end rush, and once in on his top two defenders, he did a spin move causing the two defenders to collide while he split them and went in to score the winning goal”.

Boucha is a treasure in Minnesota Hockey lore and is considered to be one of the best all-around athletes to come out of Minnesota.  He participated in football, hockey, baseball, and track and was offered full scholarships to compete in all four sports. Henry chose hockey and his story speaks for itself.  From his youth days of winning the Bantam state championship for Warroad, to the memorable “David vs Goliath” state final with Edina, his Minnesota legend started.

Henry Boucha was instrumental in the USA medalling
(Submitted Photo)

Add onto the world scene, where he helps in leading his team to qualify for the Olympics after getting the US out of the B pool in the 1971 World tournament, to earning a silver medal in Sapporo Japan, and finally playing in the NHL and WHA, Boucha’s career is inspiring from his athletic accomplishments and even more of accepting his Native American culture and making a difference. For those old enough to recall Henry Boucha, they will know the impact he had on hockey at all levels in Minnesota and for those that are younger learning a piece of hockey history about this icon makes his book “Henry Boucha, Ojibwa Native American Olympian” a must read.

It ties together a story of a person that overcame a number of personal tragedies and heartache to achieve heights at the highest of levels in his profession. He holds the record for the fastest goal scored in the NHL while with the Detroit Red Wings.  A horrific eye injury ended his career after six seasons in the NHL.  He continued to play in the WHA with the Minnesota Fighting Saints and after many surgeries retired from hockey at the age of 25.

Henry Boucha scores his first NHL goal with Detroit
(Submitted Photo)

If you can’t make it to Dave’s in Fridley or Stillwater this weekend, purchase Boucha’s book online at HenryBoucha.com or at Amazon.com.  Be sure to check out this week’s Minnesota Hockey Magazine Radio Show as Henry discusses his life in and out of hockey with our host Pete Waggoner. Last year, Scott Tiffany and MinnesotaHockeyMagazine.com sat down to talk hockey in a multiple part series. Here are the first and last parts of those interviews. For the whole story, you really don’t want to miss out, we recommend buying his book this weekend at Dave’s Sports Shop.[vimeo id=”62318782″ width=”620″ height=”360″] [vimeo id=”64475284″ width=”620″ height=”360″]

The post Dave’s Sport Shops to host Boucha book signing events this weekend in Fridley and Stillwater. appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Boucha called his time playing for Glen Sonmor as some of the best years he ever played and the Minnesota Fighting Saints team that Somor put together was the best hockey team he had ever played on. To emphasize just how talented this team was, Boucha recalled one game in Phoenix, “We were slow starting out and about midway through the second period were down 6-0. One of the guys said let’s see what we are made of, and we decided to pick it up a notch, and ended up coming back to win 7-6.”

Boucha recalled playing on the team with some of the stars of the team that included David Keon, Johnny “Pie” McKenzie, Mike “Shaky” Walton, Wayne Connolly with Mike Curran and Carl Wetzel tending goal along with Minnesotan’s Keith Christiansen, George Konik, Pat Westrum, Dick Paradise and, of course, Carlson and Butters.

“I have no doubt in my mind that, in a seven-game series, we would have beat the North Stars,” Boucha said confidently.

Butters, now serving as a full time pastor for Hockey Ministries International to serve the hockey community and hockey players, was known for his toughness as a player. According to former Gopher teammate Brad Morrow, Butters was without fear and recalled one fight where he took on a whole team.

“We were playing Colorado College and Billy just went nuts,” Morrow recalled as if it were yesterday. “When he skated over in front of the CC’s player bench taunting the entire team for a fight, when no one came out, Butters jumped over the boards and into the CC players box and then just started swinging, taking on the whole team”.

Morrow is still amazed on the turnabout that Butters has made from one of the toughest rowdiest players he had ever played with to one who is now all about his Christian Ministry.

Carlson, who has also had a major change of character, was known as a fierce hockey fighter who took on the toughest NHL fighters and stood up for his teammates. Ironically, he now can be found as a referee in the Adult Hockey League as well as doing local youth games. Carlson, whose brothers appeared in the hockey movie “Slap Shot” as the Hanson brothers would have been in the movie if not for his playing for the North Stars. The movie, about a fictional professional team in Charlestown, Penn. named the Chiefs whose antics were more thuggery than hockey, was a studio success and featured Paul Newman as its leading man.

Sonmor’s style of coaching was always tough, physically tough. Sonmor had mentors that reflected that mentality. He recalled playing with the legendary John Mariucci for the old Minneapolis Millers, and when it came time for the championship series with Omaha, the Millers GM told the players that it was now up to them.

Mariucci told the guys that in order to win the best of 5 championship series, they would need to take only one game in Omaha, as he was convinced they would win two in Minneapolis on their small sheet of ice. Sonmor recalls literally beating the crap out of the Omaha team the first night, then winning the next three, as the Omaha team played scared the rest of the series. After a serious eye injury, Sonmor made the successful transition from player to coach.

Mariucci’s influence, along with Sonmor’s own physical style, created a coach that just loved the physical game. Sonmor did not disappoint as a general manager either, when in the mid 70’s, the World Hockey Association was birthed, giving St. Paul a franchise, Sonmor did a masterful job in creating one of the best hockey line ups ever to play in the state. At the outset, the Saints had a policy of favoring local players, with the 1972–73 roster featuring no fewer than 11 athletes who were either born in Minnesota or American citizens. This was almost unheard of in the early 1970s, when few NHL or WHA teams had even a single American player..

After starting out as GM and coach, Sonmor handed the coaching reins to Harry Neale. The team put on a far more entertaining show with the Saints games consistently outdrawing their cross city rival Minnesota North Stars. The league in many ways was very futuristic, and took out the center red line for a much faster game that took the NHL almost 25 years to figure out.

The interesting fact with the three men who visited Sonmor on Saturday Dec. 14, was they also played for the North Stars. In fact, Carlson was involved with the turn around, as with the Cleveland Barons folding in the 1978 season and merging with the North Stars, the team had an infusion of talent. Glen’s long-time friend and new North Star GM Lou Nanne, then took a bold step and told management that they needed a new coach, and that coach needed to be Sonmor. The problem was that Sonmor was successful in the WHA, and the NHL and the North Star ownership at that time did not want anything to do with Sonmor.

Sonmor recalled Nanne the negotiator, “Lou knew when he had the upper hand, and always won when he had the upper hand as he was one of the best there was in getting what he wanted.” In this case, Nanne held firm, as he knew the Gunds and the ownership knew they needed to make a change in the culture of the team.

Sonmor did just that, turning around what was considered a soft team into a team that battled the way the hardened Sonmor only knew. By adding tough guys and character people, the Stars were no longer going to be the team that other teams pushed around.

To prove his point, as the Stars were approaching making the playoffs and lining up against the rugged Boston Bruins, two months before in a late February game, the fiery Sonmor came into the locker room prior to the game and said tonight is the night we make our stand. Sonmor recalls telling the team “I don’t care what the score is at the end of the game, but by the time this game is over, Boston will know they won’t be able to push us around anymore. At the first time, not the second or the third, but the first time they pull any intimidating move, WE WILL RESPOND.”

Six seconds into the game, Bruins center Steve Kasper brushed his stick into Bobby Smith’s face. Smith, known as a gentle giant, and a smooth goal-scoring playmaker, dropped Kasper with a few hard rights to Caspers head. According to Sonmor, the first period had over 400 minutes in penalties, and at the end of the game, Carlson recalls both teams having only 7 or 8 skaters left, as the rest of the team was already tossed out for fighting.

The North Stars may have lost that game, but the key was they had stopped the endless losing in Boston as just two months later, the Stanley Cup series would start and have the Stars facing the Bruins in Boston for the first two games. The Stars would win both games in overtime before heading back to the Met where they would take the series leading to their improbable run to the Stanley Cup.

It is with great memories and fondness that the hockey community reaches out in prayers and visits the ailing Sonmor as all know that Sonmor would do the same for them. It is obvious that Sonmor appreciates all the kindness that is being expressed in his time of need.

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