He made his debut at a time when the league's biggest stars were sluggers Jacques Dubé, Joël Therriault, Jason Clarke and Mike Brault. Despite everything, striker Keven Cloutier managed to make history in the North American Hockey League (LNAH) with his points, not his fists.
Wayne Gretzky has broken every offensive record in the NHL and most of them will likely never be broken or even equaled (talk to Alex Ovechkin). When we look at Cloutier's career in the North American Hockey League (LNAH) on a smaller scale, it's hard not to draw parallels.
Well, it might be a bit of a stretch to compare anyone to the Wonder, regardless of league, you might say. Perhaps. But if we look at the track record of the Beauceron striker, we can only say that his numbers are reminiscent of Gretzky's exploits in the NHL: he holds almost all the records on the circuit and it is difficult to imagine that one day another hockey player Doing so will manage to catch up with him.
On January 6, the 43-year-old center collected his 1,000th career point in the LNAH, becoming the first player in circuit history to reach that plateau.
Keven Cloutier Photo provided by Cool FM from Saint-Georges
But even before he reached the 1,000-point mark, Cloutier had already established himself as the best offensive player in the history of this circuit.
With a total of 1,014 career points to date, he has 233 more points than the second highest scorer in history, Mathieu Benoit, who collected 781 points between 2001 and 2014. His 341 goals are also an all-time record, 13 ahead of Benoit's 328, while his 673 assists unashamedly dominate circuit history, while his closest rival, Yann Joseph, finished his career with 477 assists.
Humble and passionate
The most impressive thing about all of this is that he's still playing at 43, but beyond that, the Beauceville native has never played for an organization other than Cool FM in Saint-Georges, which has gone by other names over time.
“It was never one of my goals to tell myself that I was going to crack this league and break records. I love hockey, it is a passion for me and even if I don't play anymore I will still be immersed in it,” he said humbly in an interview with Le Journal last week.
For his head coach Dominic Lapensée, there is no doubt that Cloutier's records will be almost unattainable.
“He played seasons where there were almost 50 games in our league, whereas today we play about thirty. But what makes Keven special has always been Cool FM. You'll never see him emerge from defeat with a smile, even if he scored two goals and three assists.
A short professional career
After a successful three-year career in the QMJHL, which he finished with 91 and 92 points at ages 19 and 20, Cloutier found himself without many career options and accepted a tryout at camp in Quebec. Worcester IceCats, the St. Louis Blues farm club. He ultimately chose the Peoria Rivermen in the old East Coast League (ECHL). That first year as a professional didn't go as planned and he was traded to the Pensacola Ice Pilots the following season, but things didn't go much better.
“It wasn't a very positive experience for me. These two seasons burned me so much that I asked myself if I wanted to continue playing.
Looking back, he regrets the way his professional career developed in North America.
“Maybe I was given bad advice. If I had to do it again, I would probably make different decisions,” he says, not disappointed with how things turned out for him afterwards.
At the end of that second season in the ECHL, in which he accumulated 45 points in 69 games, he made the decision to return home and join the Saint Georges team in the semi-professional Hockey League. from Quebec, the former LNAH, for the 2003-2004 season.
And then the passion came back.
“It was my best season ever,” he said, finishing second on his team in scoring with 75 points in 46 games. I was in the same locker room as veterans like Normand Rochefort and Jean-Yves Leroux and we reached the Allen Cup final and lost Game 7 in the second overtime. From then on I played ice hockey again.”
Retirement soon?
Cloutier remained loyal to Saint-Georges, with the exception of two trips to Switzerland, where he spent the equivalent of four professional seasons there.
At the age of 43, he is now playing his 18th season in the LNAH. All this in addition to his day job in transportation and his family.
Photo provided by Cool FM from Saint-Georges
Although he has begun to take on a less dominant role on his team, he is not ready to give up his game just yet.
“I know that at a certain point I will slow down and won't be able to do what I used to do. I will no longer be the league's top scorer and that's okay. All I ask is that we have young people to take my place in the middle of the first or second row. I feel comfortable in defensive missions.
“Hockey is my passion. I'll eat that! Yes, I work and have my family, but I do what I have to do to have the energy to keep playing. To keep myself in shape, I run two to three times a week. At 43 it will certainly be demanding and you have to do more if you want to keep up with the young people. But right now I love it and I want to do it. I would like to win another trophy.”
And his coach Dominic Lapensée can confirm that he loves ice hockey.
“Keven works in the evenings from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., he is always one of the first players to arrive at the arena, he sharpens his skates himself and sometimes when we are in trouble he sharpens them. He’s a real professional.”
Keven Cloutier in five questions
Keven Cloutier Photo provided by Cool FM from Saint-Georges
Your nickname is “Piper”, where does that come from?
“In my first year at Garaga I was 23 years old and the team was mostly made up of guys between 28 and 38 years old. Normand Rochefort always laughed at me and said he could be my father! I was young and bought a Volkswagen Passat in the summer. There was a “pipe” on it that rumbled. I stumbled. On the first day of camp, I arrived at the parking lot and there was a small group of players there. Everyone looked at me and one of them said to me, “Your tank is roaring.” Soon after, in the locker room, he decided that my nickname would be Piper and that was it. He’s stayed ever since!”
How much does a LNAH player earn?
“I prefer not to talk about my salary (laughs). On the other hand, I can say that salaries often vary between $300 and $600 per game. Sometimes, in exceptional cases, the boys do more.”
Do you remember a specific moment from when the LNAH was quite busy?
“I remember one game, on a Sunday evening in Saint-Jean, when there was a general brawl nine minutes before the end of the third game. A player attacked our goalkeeper and sent the goal his way. They mistreated us so the referees turned everyone around in the locker room. When we got to the room, the owner of our team came to us, told us to take off our clothes and said we were leaving. We eventually decided to finish the game, but played five-on-three for most of the rest of the game. We just passed the puck around. We got a lot of hits!”
How much has the league changed since you started?
“I think the problem is that there were antics when we talked about our league. The talent level in our league has often been pushed into the background due to some darker events. We've been seeing less and less of it in recent years. The league is more structured at this level and significantly less permissive. I think there will always be an audience for fights, but we want it to be respectful and accepting. We don’t want any more nonsense and the people who come to our games see a very high level of play.”
Has a particular player made life difficult for you during your career?
I could make you a list! On the other hand, as soon as I arrived in the LNAH, I developed a big rivalry with Yann Joseph. We were two talented players and proud competitors and threw down the gloves together a few times. I won't make excuses for you: in our best years we didn't love each other! We met in the South seven or eight years ago and laughed a lot about how things were going. We have buried the hatchet.”