Brian Boucher’s an NHL player again, at least for the immediate future. The Flyers have recalled Boosh from the Adirondack Phantoms due to an injury to backup Michael Leighton.
The team says it’s an upper-body injury and Leighton has been placed on the injured reserve. The Daily News reports that Leighton suffered the injury on Friday during practice.
This is the exact reason the Flyers traded for Boucher during training camp. They’re not comfortable calling up Cal Heeter, who’s split time between the ECHL’s Titans and the Phantoms in his first pro season, and the Phantoms’ other goaltender, Scott Munrow, is not on an NHL contract. Boosh is a nice insurance policy to have, and now the Flyers are using it. Heeter, meanwhile, has been called back to Adirondack in the domino effect of moves.
Boucher’s played just six games since joining the Phantoms. He’s compiled a 2.71 goals against average and a .908 save percentage in those games.
Will he get a start during his time here? Well, that obviously depends on how long he’s in town — if he’s here long enough, he’ll almost certainly get a start since Ilya Bryzgalov can’t play every single game by himself. The Flyers are in Toronto for a game against the Leafs on Monday night and are out in Winnipeg on Tuesday night, so that rough back-to-back could mean Boucher finds himself in a game sooner than later.
