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Cloutier retires
22/07/2008
Blaze skipper Sylvain Cloutier announces retirement to take Head Coach position at Corpus Christi Ice Rays.
Cloutier, who joined the Blaze at the start of the 06/07 season, played 139 games for the club, scoring 62 goals and 95 assists for a 157 point total. He became club captain at the start of last season and had the honour of lifting both the bmibaby Elite League and British Knockout Cup trophies in front of the Blaze fans at the Skydome Arena.
The influential Canadian has decided to hang up his skates to take up the position of Head Coach at the Corpus Christi Ice Rays of the Central Hockey League in North America. The thirty-four year old has made no secret of his desire to move into coaching at the conclusion of his playing career and the offer from Corpus Christie has presented him with that opportunity sooner than expected.
Thompson was naturally disappointed to be losing such a key player.
“I’m still very surprised to be honest. I spoke to him over the weekend and he told me then that he was going to retire to take up a full time, Head Coach position in the Central League. I’ve been speaking to him a lot over the summer while I’ve been building the team for the new season and we’d even got to the point where we had reached a deal to extend his own playing contract by another season. So this news definitely came out of the blue.
“I’m disappointed because it’s going to be a tough job to replace someone who I believe was the most complete all round player in the Elite League. He’s a man that I have huge respect for, in the way he carried himself both on and off the ice whilst he was here and I can understand his decision. Not many people get that type of offer at just thirty-four and he believes that it is the right decision for his future and that of his family. We’ll certainly miss him though.
“My job now is to find the right replacement. It’s a blow losing Sylvain, but it’s not the end of the world. The toughest part is the timing of it with the season getting closer now, but I’m making extensive calls to agents and contacts all over the world to find the player that I think we need to fill the gap he will leave.”