Bruce Boudreau was a talented offensive centre whose size worked against him getting the ice time he wanted in the NHL. He was a force in junior and the minors and managed to suit up for 141 big league games over eight seasons.
The Toronto native amassed 365 points in three outstanding years with the Toronto Marlboros. He was chosen 42nd overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1975 after captaining the Marlies to the Memorial Cup and leading the OHA with 68 goals and 165 points. Initially, he couldn't agree on a contract with Toronto and joined the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the WHA for a year.
The diminutive pivot signed on with the Leafs in 1976-77 and scored seven points in 15 games. He played most of his hockey that year with the Dallas Black Hawks and led the CHL with 37 goals. He played 40 games for Toronto as an injury replacement in 1977-78 but remained a farmhand through the 1982-83 playoffs. His best performance in the minors during this time came in 1981-82 when he scored 103 points in 63 games for the Cincinnati Tigers and was placed on the CHL second all-star team.
Boudreau played seven games for the Chicago Black Hawks in 1985-86 after signing as a free agent but was chiefly a minor league stalwart until retiring in 1992. In 1987-88, he led the AHL with 116 points while playing for the Springfield Indians. That year he was placed on the league's first all-star team and was the recipient of the Fred T. Hunt Memorial Trophy as the league's most sportsmanlike player.
