Josef Boumedienne
Josef Boumedienne | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 12, 1978 Sweden |
| Occupation(s) | Ice hockey defenceman (former), coach, scout, assistant general manager |
| Years active | 1995–2013 (player) |
| Known for | NHL player for New Jersey Devils, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals; Assistant General Manager for Sweden men's national ice hockey team |
Josef Sami Boumedienne (born 12 January 1978) is a former professional ice hockey defenceman of Swedish-Finnish nationality, now working as a coach and scout. During his playing career, he competed in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Washington Capitals. Presently, he holds the position of Assistant General Manager for the Sweden men's national ice hockey team.
Playing career
Boumedienne launched his professional journey with Huddinge IK in Sweden's Allsvenskan league during the 1995–96 season. Selected 91st overall by the New Jersey Devils in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, he subsequently spent two seasons competing for Södertälje SK in the Swedish Elitserien before transferring to Tappara in Finland’s SM-liiga. In the 1999–2000 campaign, he led Tappara’s defensive corps with 8 goals and 24 assists, totaling 32 points.
The 2000–01 season saw Boumedienne join Albany River Rats, New Jersey’s American Hockey League affiliate. He made his NHL debut on 6 October 2001, scoring in his lone appearance for the Devils before being traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning in November. While primarily assigned to Tampa Bay’s Springfield Falcons farm team, he appeared in three NHL contests. In 2002, Tampa Bay traded him to the Ottawa Senators; later that year, Ottawa sent him to the Washington Capitals. With Washington, he mainly played for their AHL affiliate Portland Pirates but participated in 43 NHL games across two seasons. After a strong showing in 2003–04, Washington rewarded him with a one-year contract extension.
During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Boumedienne began the season with Brynäs IF in Elitserien but soon returned to Finland’s SM-liiga to join Kärpät, where he contributed to capturing the Finnish championship. The following season (2005–06), he signed with Zürich Lions of Switzerland’s National League A but was released after 17 games due to defensive performance issues and completed the year back with Södertälje SK.
In November 2006, Boumedienne inked a two-year deal with Kärpät; however, surgery delayed his start. He earned his second Finnish championship title with Kärpät in April 2007. The subsequent summer brought a one-year contract back with Washington, though he spent that season with their AHL affiliate Hershey Bears. For the 2008–09 season, Boumedienne joined the Toronto Maple Leafs organization playing with their AHL affiliate Toronto Marlies before returning once again to Kärpät and securing a silver medal.
In 2009–10, Boumedienne signed with Dynamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), leading their defensemen in points prior to his release. He then transferred to EV Zug in Switzerland’s NLA during 2010. Djurgårdens IF brought him on board on a one-year contract with an option for an additional year. In January 2012, Jokerit acquired his services for the remainder of that season.
Boumedienne wrapped up his professional playing career during the 2012–13 season split between HC Slovan Bratislava of the KHL and Oulun Kärpät in Finland’s SM-liiga.
Scouting and coaching career
In 2013, Boumedienne began scouting for the Columbus Blue Jackets, advancing to Director of European Scouting by 2016. He also scouted for Lukko and accepted a late-season head coaching position with Brynäs in 2021 aimed at avoiding relegation. That same year, he was elevated to Director of Pro Scouting within Columbus.
By 2022, Boumedienne assumed the role of assistant general manager for the Sweden men's national ice hockey team, serving as general manager for Team Sweden during the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off tournament.
In October 2023, following Pascal Vincent’s promotion to head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Boumedienne was named assistant coach. Prior to this appointment, he had been coaching the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets’ under-14 squad.
International
Boumedienne has competed for the Swedish national ice hockey team during the European Hockey Tour and has been a Finnish citizen since 2004.
Personal
Of Algerian and Finnish heritage, Boumedienne is married and has three sons. His son, Sascha, is regarded as a leading candidate for the 2025 NHL entry draft and was chosen 28th overall by the Winnipeg Jets.
Regular season and playoffs
2003–04 NHL season Washington Capitals NHL 37 2 12 14 30 2004–05 Elitserien season Brynäs IF SEL 13 6 0 6 43 2004–05 SM-liiga seasonOulun Kärpät SM-l 32 5 10 15 58 12 1 5 6 12 2005–06 Nationalliga A seasonZSC LionsNLA 17 1 10 11 24 — — — — — 2005–06 Elitserien season Södertälje SK SEL 26 1 19 20 62 — — — — — 2006–07 SM-liiga season Oulun Kärpät SM-l 18 2 2 4 36 10 1 3 4 16 2007–08 AHL seasonHershey Bears AHL 52 7 35 42 81 1 0 0 0 2 2008–09 SM-liiga season Oulun Kärpät SM-l 17 3 7 10 32 2008–09 AHL seasonToronto Marlies AHL 19 0 7 7 29 2009–10 KHL seasonHC Dinamo Minsk KHL 17 0 7 7 30 2009–10 NLA seasonEV Zug NLA 7 4International
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1996–97 | Södertälje SK | SEL | 32 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | Södertälje SK | SEL | 26 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Tappara | SM-l | 51 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 119 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–00 | Tappara | SM-l | 50 | 8 | 24 | 32 | 160 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 | ||
| 2000–01 | Albany River Rats | AHL | 79 | 8 | 29 | 37 | 117 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | Albany River Rats | AHL | 9 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 NHL season | New Jersey Devils | National Hockey League | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
| 2001–02 | Springfield Falcons | AHL | 53 | 7 | 25 | 32 | 57 | |||||||
| 2001–02 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |||||||
| 2002–03 AHL season | Binghamton Senators | AHL | 26 | 2 | 15 | 17 | 62 | |||||||
| 2002–03 | Portland Pirates | AHL | 44 | 8 | 22 | 30 | 77 | |||||||
| 2002–03 NHL season | Washington Capitals | NHL | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||||
| 2003–04 AHL season | Portland Pirates | AHL | 13 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |||||||
| Year | Team | Competition | Outcome | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Sweden | EJC18 | Template:Bronze3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 14 | |
| 1997 | Sweden | WJC | 8th place | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 1998 | Sweden | WJC | Finished 6th | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| Junior career totals | 12 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 18 | ||||
Awards and honours
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| AHL | ||
| All-Star Game | 2001 | |
| SM-liiga | ||
| All-Star Team Selection | 2005 | |