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BOISBRIAND — Joël Bouchard landed a pretty sweet job as an RDS analyst for Canadiens games after his 14-year NHL playing career ended.

It’s the kind of job any former player would love, staying involved in the game while watching the action up-close from beside the Canadiens’ backup goalie at the end of the bench. There’s not a ton of pressure and you’re one of the few media people who gets to travel on the Canadiens’ charter flights and stay in the same five-star hotels as the players. The pay, I imagine, is also pretty good.

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But Bouchard wanted more.

So, seven years ago Bouchard put together a group that purchased the Montreal Juniors for a reported $4 million from businessman Farrell Miller, moving the franchise from the Verdun Auditorium to Boisbriand and calling it the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. Quebecor paid for 70 per cent of the team, while Bouchard also got former NHLers Daniel Brière, Jean-Sébastien Giguère and Ian Lapperière involved, along with business partner Pierre Gendron. The team moved to the 3,100-seat Centre d’Excellence Sports Rousseau in Boisbriand, where Bouchard also runs a hockey academy. Blainville and Boisbriand — side-by-side suburban municipalities north of Montreal — built the rink together.