Wolf Pack fans have seen some electrifying games turned in by goaltenders throughout the history of the franchise, and that trend toward the spectacular was started in earnest by current NHL regular Dan Cloutier.Cloutier, only 21 and in his second year of pro hockey when he came to Hartford, played a total of only 32 games in a Wolf Pack uniform, including playoffs. Even in that relatively brief tenure, though, he left an indelible impression on the Wolf Pack faithful with some huge wins, and gave the fans of Hartford an impressively-sharp glimpse of the NHL goaltender he was to become. After an AHL All-Rookie season in Binghamton in 1996-97, Cloutier spent a significant portion of the Wolf Pack’s inaugural 1997-98 campaign “on the yo-yo” between the AHL and the parent New York Rangers club. The Mont-Laurier, Quebec native logged 12 games with the big club, and went a solid 12-8-3 in 24 outings with the Wolf Pack, with a 2.63 goals-against average and a 91.7% save percentage. Cloutier saved his best work for the playoffs, though, at least in terms of dramatics. He returned from a long stint with the Rangers to post a 3-2 win in a decisive Game Three of a best-of-three series at New Haven in the first round. Then in the second round against Worcester, Cloutier won the first two games of the best-of-seven set, then had to sit the next three contests out with an injury. The IceCats won all three of those games, to push the Pack’s backs to the wall, but they would eventually be stymied by Cloutier. He made his return in Game Six of the series at Worcester, and turned in one of the great games ever played by a Pack backstop. The Wolf Pack were outshot 53-29 in that do-or-die game, but Cloutier scrambled his way to 52 saves, a number of them spectacular, as the Wolf Pack saved their season with a 4-1 win. For good measure, Cloutier stopped 39 Worcester shots in Game Seven in Hartford, which the Wolf Pack won going away, 8-2. That the Pack ran out of gas in the Conference Finals in five games against Saint John does not diminish the luster of a terrific run of clutch goaltending by Cloutier, who basically left the AHL in the rear-view mirror thereafter. The former Rangers first-round pick (26th overall in 1994) spent the entirety of the next season in the NHL with the Blueshirts, sharing time in the Ranger net with workhorse Mike Richter. In 22 games that year, Cloutier went 6-8-3 with a 2.68 GAA and a 91.4% save percentage. His three-year tenure with the Ranger organization ended that summer, as he was included by the Rangers in a draft-day deal that sent him to Tampa Bay and landed the Rangers the fourth overall pick in the draft. Cloutier got his first chance to be a number-one man in the NHL the next season, 1999-2000, suiting up for 52 games for the Lightning. Unfortunately for him, though, that was during one of the fledgling franchise’s lean years, and Cloutier finished the year with a 9-30-3 mark in those 52 outings. After starting the next year 3-13-3 in 24 games, Cloutier was moved to the Vancouver Canucks by Tampa in exchange for Adrian Aucoin. This would prove to be a positive move for Cloutier, as the Canucks were beginning a rise that would culminate in 100-point seasons in 2002-03 and ‘03-’04. Starting with his first full season in a Canuck uniform, 2001-02, Cloutier reeled off three consecutive 30-win years, and he posted seven shutouts in ‘01-’02, tied for second-most in the NHL. His 33 wins in 2003-04 were good for a tie for fifth in the league, and he also saw action in 25 Stanley Cup playoff games during his Vancouver tenure, his first postseason action since that Wolf Pack playoff run in 1998. During the NHL lockout in 2004-05, Cloutier spent some time in Austria playing for Klagenfurter AC, and was raring to go when he returned to Vancouver for the start of the 2005-06 season. Before Thanksgiving, however, his year would be over, due to a knee injury. The 13 games he did play produced solid numbers, an 8-3-1 record, a 3.17 GAA and an 89.2% save percentage, but following the season the Canucks decided to take their goaltending in a different direction. The acquisition of Roberto Luongo from Florida made Cloutier expendable, and he was dealt to the Los Angeles for a second-round draft pick. So the Quebec-born lad remains on the Pacific Coast, and once again has the opportunity to shoulder a big load for a team that has some up-and-coming young players. The Kings’ new coach this year is Marc Crawford, whom Cloutier worked with during his entire run with Vancouver, and he has trusted Cloutier with a workload similar to that which he handled before the injury. Physical problems continued to pester Cloutier in the early season and his numbers have not been as stellar as those he ran up with the Canucks. If he can regain full health, though, his past career indicates that he has every chance to regain the status of one of the top goaltenders in the Big Show, and add more strong statistics to a list of accomplishments that ranks him as one of the best young players groomed in the history of the Wolf Pack. |
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