 As a player, Boudreau played professionally for 20 seasons, logging 141 games in the NHL and 30 games in the World Hockey Association (WHA).He played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Chicago Black Hawks of the NHL and the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the WHA.Boudreau won the Jack Adams Award for the NHL's most outstanding head coach in the 2007–08 NHL season during his tenure with the Capitals.