Real Cloutier

Real "Buddy" Cloutier (born July 30, 1956 in Saint-Émile, Quebec) is a retired Canadian ice hockey winger, most notably for the Quebec Nordiques and the Buffalo Sabres.

Playing career

Touted as one of the most brilliant prospects in the history of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Cloutier played his junior hockey for the Quebec Remparts, leading his team to back to back Memorial Cup finals and winning the championship in 1974. His final season with the Remparts saw him score 216 points to lead his squad.

Signing with the Nordiques of the World Hockey Association in the days when the National Hockey League did not allow teenagers to play, Cloutier made an immediate impact in his rookie season of 1975, scoring 26 goals and helping his team into the AVCO Cup finals.

The next season saw Cloutier break into stardom, scoring 60 goals to begin a streak of four seasons where he scored at least 56 goals. He improved that in the 1977 season, scoring 66 goals and 141 points to lead the WHA in scoring, adding 14 goals and 13 assists in 17 playoff games to lead the Nordiques to their only AVCO Cup championship. His best goal scoring season came in the WHA's final season of 1979, when he scored 75 goals, at the time the third highest total in professional history.

Upon the time of the WHA's merger with the NHL, Quebec traded its first round draft choice (which would turn into future superstar Denis Savard) to the Chicago Black Hawks, which held Cloutier's NHL rights, so the Hawks would not reclaim him before the expansion draft. He proved a consistent scorer in the NHL, scoring 42 goals in 1980, and, although he was slowed by injuries, 37 and 28 goals his last two full seasons with the Nords.

In 1983, amidst rumors of off-ice problems, Cloutier was traded to the Buffalo Sabres. He immediately clashed with Sabres' coach Scotty Bowman, who had a long history of benching scoring stars whom he felt were not paying sufficient attention to defensive play, and although he scored a credible 24 goals and 60 points in his only full season for the Sabres, he was sent to the minor leagues the next year, retiring thereafter at the age of 28.

Retirement

Cloutier retired as the fourth leading scorer in WHA history with 283 goals and 283 assists for 566 points in 369 games, adding 33 goals and 30 assists in 48 playoff games. He added 344 points in 317 NHL games.

Achievements and facts

* Named to the WHA Second All-Star Team in 1976, 1977 and 1978.
* Named to the WHA First All-Star Team in 1979.
* Won the Bill Hunter Trophy as the WHA's scoring leader in 1977 and 1979.
* Played in the NHL All-Star Game in 1980.
* Third all-time in the WHA for goals scored, eleventh in assists.
* He was the second player to score a hat trick in his NHL debut, joining Alex Smart in the exclusive group.

Career statistics

--- Regular Season --- ---- Playoffs ----Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1972-73 Quebec Remparts QMJHL 57 39 60 99 15 18 8 14 22 161973-74 Quebec Remparts QMJHL 69 93 123 216 40 20 30 28 58 321974-75 Quebec Nordiques WHA 63 26 27 53 36 12 4 3 7 21975-76 Quebec Nordiques WHA 80 60 54 114 27 5 4 5 9 01976-77 Quebec Nordiques WHA 76 66 75 141 39 17 14 13 27 101977-78 Quebec Nordiques WHA 73 56 73 129 19 10 9 7 16 151978-79 Quebec Nordiques WHA 77 75 54 129 48 4 2 2 4 21979-80 Quebec Nordiques NHL 67 42 47 89 12 -- -- -- -- --1980-81 Quebec Nordiques NHL 34 15 16 31 18 3 0 0 0 101981-82 Quebec Nordiques NHL 67 37 60 97 34 16 7 5 12 101982-83 Quebec Nordiques NHL 68 28 39 67 30 4 0 0 0 01983-84 Buffalo Sabres NHL 77 24 36 60 25 2 0 0 0 01984-85 Flint Generals IHL 40 11 25 36 6 -- -- -- -- --1984-85 Rochester Americans AHL 12 4 3 7 0 -- -- -- -- --1984-85 Buffalo Sabres NHL 4 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHA Totals 369 283 283 566 169 48 33 30 63 29 NHL Totals 317 146 198 344 119 25 7 5 12 20

External links

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