In 39 Days...

 
    We are now 39 days away from hearing Jeff Jimerson serenade us with the "Star Spangled Banner" and seeing Ryan Kesler's gorgeous face in a Ducks jersey as the Pens will face Anaheim Thursday, October 9th at 7:08PM at Consol Energy Center. Here we are at number 39 in the countdown with little to talk about. Penguins players to wear the number 39 sweater include Mike Needham, Peter Allen, Joel Bouchard, Jon Sim, Luca Caputi (again), and Brad Theissen. While Jon Sim was an "X-Generation" warrior and as fun as it would be to write about Luca Caputi and include the "Luca Caputi Rap", we decided to pick #BestInTheWorld defenseman Joël Bouchard.

  Canadian defenseman Bouchard was taken in the 6th round (129th overall) in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft. Joël is an NHL journeyman / team slut as he went on to play for eight NHL teams in his 13 seasons. Bouchard went on to play seven games for the Penguins during the 2002-2003 season. But it's not like Bouchard is a relevant figure, it's what got Bouchard here that matters most. Bouchard, Richard Lintner, THE Rico Fata, and Mikael Samuelsson were acquired in the deal that sent Alexei Kovalev, Mike Wilson, superstar defenseman Janne Laukkanen, and Dan LaCouture to the New York Rangers, hence the beginnings of the "X-Generation." Kovalev's departure was hard to swallow (hahaha that's what she said) for a lot of fans, and basically accepted the fact that the Penguins were going to in a new direction. And holy shit did they. However, the bright side of this deal (it sure as hell was not Joël Bouchard) was basically getting Marc-Andre Fleury out of this. During the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, the Penguins traded their third pick (which ended up being Nathan Horton), the 55th pick (some jabroni) and Mikael Samuelsson (Guy acquired with Bouchard in Ranger deal) for the first overall pick from the Florida Panthers, in which the Penguins took Marc-Andre Fleury and the 73rd pick in which the Pens took Daniel Carcillo (insert all the lololololos).

  During Bouchard's 7 games with the Penguins in 2002-2003, he recorded 1 assist and was a -6 (so Pittsburgh fans would hate him now because +/- is everything). Bouchard spent four years with Calgary, the team he was drafted to, then went on a nice little life journey playing for the Rangers, Predators, Devils, Dallas, Islanders, Pittsburgh (that's us), and Phoenix. Bouchard had two stints with the Rangers as he went back the following season after being acquired by the Penguins. Technically he was on 9 teams as after he left the Penguins the Buffalo Sabres signed him, however he did not play a game for them and was then claimed by the Rags. To summarize Bouchard's career as a Penguin, we lost Kovalev in the deal that brought him here but we also received a key component that helped us acquire Marc-Andre Fleury in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. So basically, Bouchard was here in a time when the team was shifting directions. From trading away Kovalev to signing Fleury, there was the "Bouchard Era." Stay tuned tomorrow for someone who's way better than Joël Bouchard IMO.

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