On ice it was a different story. Boucher was aggressive and confident on the oval. As one of his first coaches put it, when it came time to compete, Boucher was like a little sheep who turned into a lion. Sylvia Burka was a veteran on the national team when Boucher joined up. She also noticed that the French Canadian was different.
Skaters are all pretty personal about their skates.
A slight change in something like the rocker has a huge effect. It's like a runner putting on a new pair of shoes and breaking them in. They just don't seem right at first. At a meet in Davos, Switzerland Boucher broke a skate. We all thought his day was done.