Bruce Boudreau is no longer with the Anaheim Ducks, but his legacy lives on among the coaching staff.
More specifically, Boudreau left a lasting impression on Sudarshan Maharaj, who was named Anaheim's new goalie coach after serving as a consultant and working with the AHL's San Diego Gulls last season.
A native of Trinidad, Maharaj says an encounter with Boudreau during the coach's playing days with the Toronto Maple Leafs permanently turned him onto the game.
As it happened, Boudreau tossed a puck over the glass that was caught by Maharaj, who was attending his first NHL game as a young boy. The rest, as they say, is history.
"I told Bruce that story," Maharaj explained to William Douglas of The Color of Hockey. "He was shocked that I remembered. I said 'Are you crazy? That’s a life-changing moment. It was one of my greatest experiences. My very first hockey game and a Toronto Maple Leafs player dropped a puck for me.' To this day, if I ever see a young child in the stands I’ll always throw a puck."
Maharaj served as the New York Islanders' goalie coach from 2003 to 2006, and goaltending consultant for the team from 2009 to 2012. He's most recently worked closely with John Gibson, who's set to take over the starting gig for the Ducks in 2016-17.
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