Tracy Pellizzari, Canucks Insider
CANUCKS.COM
The way Dan Cloutier has been playing, nobody could imagine him doing anything besides making miraculous saves in the net as the #1 goaltender for the Vancouver Canucks. But what if his career had taken a different turn? Dan speaks out on life before and after his career as an NHL goaltender.
Becoming a professional hockey player was Dan?s ultimate goal from the time he was a little boy growing up in Mont Laurier, Quebec. "I always wanted to be a hockey player," he says. "That was it. That was my dream." It was a dream that he shared with his older brother Sylvain, who today plays for the AHL affiliate of the New Jersey Devils, the Albany River Rats. Dan says that his parents fully encouraged the brothers in their individual ambitions towards careers in professional hockey. "They were all for it," he says, and notes that they supported the boys both financially and emotionally.
Dan did have one other idea though, just in case the hockey career didn't work out for him. "If I didn't make it as a hockey player, I wanted to be a policeman," he says. Judging from Dan's visible presence on the ice, he probably would have made a good one. He is one goalie in the league who makes it clear to his opponents that he's got strengths beyond simply good goaltending.
As a young child, Dan describes himself as having been a good student despite his heavy focus on hockey. "I actually liked school, but playing junior, we were always away so sometimes it was tough. But I always did good in school," he says. His favourite subject was math, and his least favourite was biology. He tried to maintain a good balance between being studious and athletic, saying he was a little bit of both. However, his hard work towards his hockey dream paid off, and Dan's career has led him from stints with the Rangers and Lightening to his current post with the Canucks.
With Dan's season already off to a great start, it seems silly to ask him what he wants to do when his professional hockey career comes to an end. He is currently tied for the league lead with three shutouts thus far, only a quarter of the way into the season. But someday retirement will come. Dan jokes that he hopes to stay in the game long enough so that he doesn't have to do much of anything after he is through playing hockey. But he says he would love to do some travelling, as well as spend time "hopefully with a couple of kids," in addition to spending time with his parents and brother.
If not a Canuck, perhaps Dan Cloutier would have become a policeman or pursued some other career ambition, but fans are probably grateful that things turned out the way that they did. Shutting out opponents and sweeping away puck after puck, it is hard to imagine him any other way.