Career
Buchanan played one game in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Black Hawks during the 1951-1952 National Hockey League season, having also played two games in the American Hockey League for the Saint Louis Flyers. He played two seasons for the Fort Wayne Komets of the International Hockey League before opting to enroll at the University of Michigan and played for their Wolverines for the next two years. He was selected for the National Collegiate Athletic Association West First All-American Team in 1955.
He returned to hockey in 1957 for a season in England with the Wembley Lions before retiring for good in 1958.