The French Canadian goalie, who becomes the Rays sixth import netminder in five seasons and replaces Latvian Marty Raitums between the pipes, has been signed from last seasons Dutch double champions Nijmegen Devils.
The Devils, led by Boucher, pipped the Tilburg Trappers, the side the Rays beat in last seasons pre-season P&O Cup, to last seasons Eredivisie title by seven points with the keeper registering a 2.95 goals against average. He improved that goals against average to 2.88 in the playoffs as he led his side to the finals and a three games to zero series victory, again over the Trappers.
A former Rio Grande Valley Killer Bee, he was team mate and room mate of Rays defenceman Stephen Burns in 08/09, registering a 2.89 goals against average and 91.1 sv.% in 37 games in the Central Hockey League, in which he posted 17 wins, 14 losses and two shut outs.
Prior to his one year stints in both Texas and Holland, Boucher spent three seasons at NCAA Division 1 college Robert Morris University, in Pittsburgh, PA, where he combined playing with studying. In those three years he consistently posted averages around the 90% save mark with his goals against average hovering at the 3.2 mark.
Undoubtedly, his friendship with Burns has played a large factor in this signing, nevertheless, Cloutier coached against Boucher in his single year in the CHL and he will certainly come to the UK as a known quantity.
"I saw Christian 15 or 16 times and coached against him in the CHL. His side didn't have any right to make the play-offs, but they did and he was one of the reasons why.With just two seasons as a professional under his belt, the new recruit may be viewed as somewhat inexperienced, however, he was a winner last season and it is clear that Cloutier believes championship winning credentials will prove very useful in the year ahead.
"We believe we're bringing in a winning goalie, with good college experience."On a similarly positive note, Boucher was a fan favourite last season in Nijmegen and the Devils were desperate to re-sign their championship winning netminder for another year. This left Cloutier with a tough choice particularly as Raitums was dragging his heels on a new deal.
"He [Raitums] could not give me an answer...Boucher's team wanted him back badly and I had to make a decision too. Sometimes you could wait for both and you could lose both and get zero and start again."The 5'10 stopper exclaimed his happiness about signing in Hull and is eager to get to the UK and begin the upcoming EIHL campaign.
"I am very excited about signing with the Stingrays...I want to get the fans excited about Hull being a winning team. I can't wait to get things rolling. I am looking forward to the challenge and hope we can bring success to the city of Hull."He joins new captain Joshua Mizerek in signed from Holland and becomes the Stingrays seventh summer import signing for the 10/11 EIHL season, leaving just three imports, thought to be two defencemen and a forward, to be signed.
