Hockey took Bruce Boudreau all over North America and even to Germany during his 17-year playing career.

The current Washington Capitals head coach and former Hershey Bears bench boss broke in a few pairs of skates and snapped plenty of sticks while playing for 16 different teams in that span.

While the focus of today’s game has shifted to additional protection for players from concussions, errant high sticks, 100-plus mph pucks and razor-sharp skate blades, Boudreau believed in less protection.

The former forward modified his equipment at every stop in a trek through seven different pro leagues.

“I marvel at how hard the stuff is today,” Boudreau said of modern protective gear. “When we played, the shoulder pads were so flimsy. The idea, for a guy like me, was to wear as little as he could.

“Take the pants, for example. I took all the padding out of the pants except for the stuff around the middle. So if a guy spanked me real hard somewhere, the welt was so big because I had nothing on my legs.”

Boudreau, never known for physical fitness, went out of his way to improve on-ice aerodynamics.

“I wanted to be as light as possible because I was not a great skater,” he said, “so anything I could do that made me lighter was OK by me.”

'Real wimp or real lucky'

Boudreau’s career started in Pennsylvania with the North American Hockey League’s Johnstown Jets in 1975-76. Yes, the very Jets that inspired the Charlestown Chiefs in the movie “Slap Shot.”

He wound his way through stops in the World Hockey Association, National Hockey League, Central Hockey League, American Hockey League and International Hockey League as well as the German Ice Hockey League before retiring in 1992.

Everywhere he went – at least in the minors – Boudreau produced prolific offensive numbers. He posted 1,368 combined points – including 548 goals – in 1,053 games at the NAHL, CHL, AHL and IHL levels.

Whatever he was doing with his equipment paid off, even if it left him susceptible to occasional bumps and bruises.

There was no concern about headshots from shoulder pads or tipped pucks causing damage to the eyes.

“I wore the smallest elbow pads I could find, and 13-inch shin pads,” Boudreau said. “The smallest I could wear is what I wore, on everything.

“I have all my teeth and I never wore a mouth guard. I always wore a helmet, but never wore a visor. That either says I was a real wimp or I was real lucky.”