Northeastern University Athletics

Randy Bucyk, a native of Edmonton and currently living in St. Albert, Alberta, Canada, has been elected to the Northeastern University Varsity Club Hall of Fame for excellence in the sport of ice hockey. Bucyk, Class of 1985, will be inducted along with four others in formal ceremonies at Northeastern’s Matthews Arena in Boston, Mass. on Thursday, April 14.

A Stanley Cup champion with the 1986 Montreal Canadiens, Bucyk amassed 57 goals and 117 points over his Northeastern career while building a reputation as one of the nation’s premier defensive forwards.

Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Bucyk captained teams throughout minor hockey as a member of the Edmonton Maple Leaf Athletic Club. It was there that Bucyk was named Canadian Minor Hockey Player of the Year for the 1977-78 season. “Buck” also became a star at Queen Elizabeth High School in Edmonton: a three-time team MVP, he was named the team’s Most Gentlemanly Player and in 1978-79 became the Canadian Amateur Hockey Player of the Year.

Bucyk was referred to Northeastern coach Fern Flaman by his cousin, the legendary Hall-of-Famer Johnny “Chief” Bucyk. “Johnny told me about Randy and I went up to take a look,” said Flaman at the time. “I was very impressed, so I recruited him for NU...I see plenty of potential in him.”

Bucky wasted no time making an impact for the Huskies, scoring two goals and adding two assists in his varsity debut, an 11-5 whipping of Harvard. One of those goals, which came short-handed, began his legacy as not simply a sensational goal-scorer, but a hard-working penalty-killer who burned as much energy in the defensive zone as the offensive. Known for his deadly wrist shot, Bucyk had already amassed 88 career points by the end of his junior season, along with the countless penalties he’d helped kill. That year, what most eastern hockey aficionados already knew became official, as Bucyk won the Frank Jones Award as New England’s Best Defensive Forward for the 1982-83 season.

His senior season saw more of his typically peerless penalty killing, but of course Bucyk’s talent made sure he routinely found his name on the score sheet as well. He graduated the tenth highest goal-scorer in Northeastern history with 60 goals and 117 points, and once again captured the Jones Award. The tri-captain also scored – what else? – a shorthanded goal in helping the Huskies to their second Beanpot championship, in a 5-2 victory in the final over Boston University.

Undrafted out of Northeastern, Bucyk earned a camp invite with the Montreal Canadiens, and scored 21 goals with 26 assists for Sherbrooke of the AHL. He earned a call-up to the Canadiens the following season, and scored two goals in seventeen appearances, including two playoff games, for the eventual Stanley Cup champions. Bucyk was a champion at every professional level at which he played, winning titles with Sherbrooke, Montreal and later Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the International Hockey League.

Since 1991 Bucyk has worked as a business manager at Merck Canada. He resides in St. Albert, Alberta, with his wife Carmen, son Taylor and daughter Andrea.