Laurie Boschman Autographed Card

Laurie Boschman was a tough player. He was a regular member of the 200 PIM club, and his career fights list officially has 89 entries, yet the player he's faced most often was Dean Kennedy - just four times; he fought against different members of the Los Angeles Kings a total of 13 times.

And yet, he fought only once in his final NHL season, in 1992-93 - his lone year with the Ottawa Senators, serving as the team's very first captain after having been selected in the 1992 Expansion Draft. The Sens bought his contract out that following summer.

That being said, he wasn't just some talent-less goon. He surpassed the 70-point mark in two consecutive years (19893-84 and 1984-85) with the Winnipeg Jets and actually had a run between 1983 and 1988 where he scored over 25 goals four times in five years, with a high of 32 in 1984-85.

And a year after being bought out by the Senators, he played in 7 games with the British Hockey League's Fife Flyers and scored 9 goals with 9 assists for a whopping 18 points and just 6 penalty minutes.

Nowadays, he still resides in Ottawa with his three sons and is part of Promise Keepers Canada, a ministry that combines hockey and religion (Christianity).

He still attends Sens games at times and participates in alumni and "Hockey Legends" events, which he where he signed this card for me in black sharpie:

That black uniform was beautiful. And the captain's "C" displays so well on it. It's card #289 from Score's 1993-94 Score (Bilingual Canadian Edition) collection.

Boschman was the seventh player ever to reach the double-milestone of 500 career points and 2000 penalty minutes (there are currently sixteen now, with most of the power forwards from the mid-1990s having retired). It's an honor to have him as one of the wearers of #16 in my Sens Numbers Project.