Paul Boutilier was born May 3, 1963, in Sydney, Nova Scotia. He started skating at the age of three, where he discovered he wanted to play hockey. His skill caught the attention of major junior scouts and Boutilier was drafted by the Sherbrooke Beavers of the QMJHL.

In 1980, he was a member of Canada’s World Junior Championship Team and was voted the best defenceman in the tournament. Due to his performance at the World Junior Championships, he was drafted 21st overall by the New York Islanders in 1981.

In his first year as a pro, he divided his time between St. Jean in the QMJHL and the Islanders in the NHL where he played 29 regular season games and two playoff games that earned him his Stanley Cup ring. The following year Boutilier played with Indianapolis, the Islanders farm team, before making a permanent leap to the Islanders from 1984-1986.

He spent the 1986-87 season with the Boston Bruins and Minnesota North Stars. Boutilier became a New York Ranger in 1987-88 but ended the season with Winnipeg. He decided to accept an offer to play in Switzerland in 1989 and finished his pro career with the Maine Mariners of the AHL.

Boutilier began his coaching career as an assistant coach for the Saint Mary’s Huskies (1991-93) and accepted the head coach position in 1993, holding the position until 1997. He went on to coach at Dalhousie University (assistant coach, 2009-12), with the Nashville Predators (defense development specialist, 2012-14), with the QMJHL Saint John Seadogs (assistant coach, 2014-16), with the U17 National Team (head coach, 2015-16), with the AHL Bellville Senators (assistant coach, 2016-18), and started working as a defense development specialist with the 44 Seconds program in 2018.

(Reference: Annual Program Induction Article by Pat Connolly)