Dan Cloutier Jr

Dan Cloutier was a Canadian professional hockey player who has played in various minor leagues such as the ECHL, AHL, and most noticeably the AWHL.

Early Years
Dan grew up in Kitchener Ontario were he played as a goalie for his high school hockey team and recorded a record high in saves.

College
Dan opted out of major junior hockey and instead played for division 2 school Bemidji State. He stayed as backup for many years. He was backup for the D2 National Championship team in 1997/98. He would play as starter for his senior year. He was not drafted in the NHL entry draft but this was as expected. He was later signed to the New Jersey Devils for a 1 year NHL entry level contract.

River Rats and Generals
In the 1999/00 season Cloutier was assigned to the Albany River Rats who were the New Jersey Devils primary affiliate who played in the AHL. He would only play 4 games with a save percentage of .83 he had 2 shutouts in his 4 games. Even though his performance was impressive The devils dropped him because of the lack of a "AA" affiliate. He would be later signed to a 1 year contract by the Greensboro Generals an independent franchise in the ECHL. He played 14 games with a .83 save percentage but still unfortunately no one noticed him.

NY Islanders and Bridgeport
In 2001 the Islanders signed Cloutier to a 2 way contract he played between the Islanders and The Sound Tigers this season. he recorded a .75 save percentage on the tigers mediocre at best.

PE Islanders and 1st Injury
When the Islanders got a deal to own an expansion franchise with the AWHL it was a big break for Cloutier. The NY Islanders could not keep Cloutier because they did not have enough room on the AHL or NHL team. They thought they had to release him but they kept him and assigned him to the new Price Edward Islanders.

In his first season with the Islanders Cloutier sat on the bench for most of the season only playing 11 games in the regular season but, in his second season with the Islanders he played 20 games and recorded a great season. The Islanders made it to the playoffs and won the Conference finals sadly they would not win it all.

In his 3rd and last season with the Islanders he would play all 14 games in a row until something would leave him off the ice for awhile or maybe forever.

On October 24th Cloutier was sent off the ice in an ambulance in Moline, IL. During the middle of the 3rd period on a breakaway Cloutier got ran into and sent his back into the crossbar. He laid on the ice for 3 minutes. On October 24th the AWHL honors him with 3 minutes before the game were no one steps in the crease were it happened. Cloutier missed the rest of the season and had to go through major physical therapy to get on the ice again. At the end of the season the Islanders dropped him stating that he was a "risk" for a team that cannot take a risk right now.

LA/San Diego and 2nd Injury
The Kings would pick up Cloutier and send them down to the LA Kings (AWHL) farm program.