Pierre-Marc Bouchard

Pierre-Marc Bouchard
Bouchard with the Minnesota Wild in 2011
Born	(1984-04-27) April 27, 1984 (age 32) Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	173 lb (78 kg; 12 st 5 lb)
Position	Centre
Shot	Left
NLA team Former teams	EV Zug Minnesota Wild New York Islanders
NHL Draft	8th overall, 2002 Minnesota Wild
Playing career	2002–2016

Pierre-Marc Bouchard (born April 27, 1984) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who last played for EV Zug of the National League A (NLA). Bouchard played his junior hockey with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, and is the older brother of Austrian Hockey League player François Bouchard. Bouchard was selected eighth overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota Wild and has also featured in the National Hockey League with the New York Islanders.

Pierre-Marc Bouchard appeared in professional play for the first time in the 2002–2003 NHL season in which he posted 7 goals and 13 assists for a total of 20 points in 50 games for the Minnesota Wild, which has been regarded as decent by NHL standards. During the 2004–2005 NHL lockout, Bouchard played for the Wild's minor league team, the Houston Aeros. Within this time period, Bouchard vastly improved his game. This was proved in the 2005–2006 season while he posted 17 goals and 42 assists for a total of 59 points in 80 games.

Bouchard is regarded as a creative playmaker and strong team player who often attempts unorthodox techniques during play. An example of one of these techniques was performed during an overtime shootout attempt in which he converted by utilizing a variation of a spin-o-rama against Chicago Blackhawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin. He repeated this move several years later, again against Khabibulin, though he did so during regulation play on a breakaway, rather than during an overtime shootout attempt. Bouchard later credited the move to his younger brother François Bouchard.