REID BOUCHER NAMED CCM/AHL JANUARY PLAYER OF THE MONTH
Utica, NY – The American Hockey League announced today that Utica Comets forward Reid Boucher, Syracuse Crunch forward Mitchell Stephens and Toronto Marlies goaltender Garret Sparks have been selected as the league’s award winners for January.
Boucher, who becomes the first Comet earn the honors, tallied nine goals and six assists to lead all AHL skaters with 15 points in 11 games during January.
Boucher began the month in the National Hockey League, completing a three-game stint with the Vancouver Canucks. In his return to the Utica lineup on January 7, he recorded his first career hat trick as part of his second four-point performance of the season in the Comets’ 5-1 win at Hartford. He assisted on both the game-tying and game-winning goals in Utica’s 3-2 overtime decision at Binghamton on January 13, and scored twice in a 4-2 win vs. Syracuse on January 20. Boucher’s goal with 39.2 seconds remaining in regulation forced overtime vs. Hartford on January 24, and he finished the month by representing the host Comets at the 2018 AHL All-Star Classic, scoring three goals in the All-Star Challenge on January 29.
Boucher is tied for first in the AHL with 22 goals and tied for seventh with 40 points in 36 games skating with Utica this season, his fifth professional campaign. The 24-year-old native of Grand Ledge, Michigan, has appeared in 205 regular-season AHL games with Utica, Milwaukee and Albany, totaling 85 goals and 65 assists for 150 points. A fourth-round pick by New Jersey in the 2011 NHL Draft, Boucher has also played 115 NHL games with Vancouver, Nashville and the Devils, notching 17 goals and 20 assists for 37 points.
Boucher will be presented with an etched crystal award prior to an upcoming home game in recognition of his achievement.
