Boucher won't give up To work his way back to the NHL, he is starting over with the Phantoms.

At 30 years old and with few other options available, goalie Brian Boucher nonetheless looks forward to trying to resurrect a career that seemed filled with so much promise when he helped lead the Flyers to the Eastern Conference finals with several acrobatic saves during the 2000 playoffs.

"I wanted to take a step backward to take two steps forward," Boucher said yesterday as he addressed the media for the first time since he signed a contract last week with the Flyers' AHL affiliate, the Phantoms. Boucher hadn't been available because of the recent death of his mother. "I never thought I'd say this, but I'm happy to sign a minor-league contract."

Plagued by inconsistency, injuries and limited playing time the last two years, Boucher, a first-round choice of the Flyers in the 1995 entry draft, became a hockey drifter, bouncing from Phoenix to Chicago to Columbus.

The Flyers traded him to Phoenix for center Michal Handzus and goalie Robert Esche on June 12, 2002. He shared the nets during two full seasons with the Coyotes and made news when he set an NHL record for the longest shutout streak, going 332 minutes and 1 second without allowing a goal from Dec. 27, 2003, to Jan. 13, 2004. He had five straight shutouts.

But those days are long gone. Rather than go to Europe, where he played four games in Sweden during the lockout season of 2004-05, and unwilling to risk not being signed to an NHL contract, Boucher called Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren to inquire about an opening with the organization. Holmgren signed him to a Phantoms deal.

"My career the last couple years has gone the opposite way I'd hoped," Boucher said. "But I feel very fortunate to again become part of a first-class organization. I'm not willing to give up on an NHL career, and to get back to the NHL, I need to play games."

The Flyers seem set in the nets after signing Martin Biron for two years in the spring and extending the contract of Antero Niittymaki earlier this summer. Boucher would give them an experienced third goalie if he was called up from the Phantoms, whom he helped to the Calder Cup championship in 1998.

Perhaps Boucher's finest moments in the NHL came after he was named the starting goalie for the 2000 playoffs by then-coach Craig Ramsey. He went 11-7 with a 2.03 goals-against average as the Flyers lost the conference finals in seven games to New Jersey. But after contentious negotiations for a new contract, Boucher lost his starting job to Roman Cechmanek the following season.

"When I went to Phoenix, I started alternating my style," he said. "Then when I started to struggle, the mental side kicked in. I got hurt the first preseason game after the lockout season, and my stock just dropped."

Last season, Boucher appeared in 18 regular-season games for Chicago and Columbus. He was 2-11-3 with a 3.34 goals-against average.