Glens Falls, N.Y. — A new era of Adirondack Thunder hockey has arrived. The team introduced their fifth head coach in franchise history, Sylvain Cloutier, on Tuesday morning inside Cool Insuring Arena.
MORE: Adirondack Thunder appoint Sylvain Cloutier as head coach
Cloutier, a 51-year-old Adirondack Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, returns to Glens Falls, where he began his professional career with the Adirondack Red Wings in the 1993-94 season. Originally from Mont-Laurier, Quebec, Cloutier played 287 games with Adirondack, scoring 45 goals and 103 assists from 1993 to 1998. During his career, Cloutier was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in 1992 and played seven NHL games with the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1998-1999 season. He also played 565 American Hockey League games, scoring 86 goals and 186 assists, and won a Calder Cup with Houston in the 2002-2003 season.
Cloutier’s coaching career began in the 2008-2009 season with the Corpus Christi IceRays in the Central Hockey League. He later coached the Hull Stingrays in the EIHL from 2009-2014 and led the Essa Stallions to back-to-back CPJHL Championships in 2018 and 2019. Most recently, Cloutier returned to Corpus Christi, helping the IceRays achieve their best regular season in team history in the North American Hockey League.
Coming back to his “second home” has been a dream come true for Cloutier who made it clear that this year’s Thunder team will work hard and compete to win every single night for their die hard fans. He inherits a team that finished second to last this past season in the ECHL.
The Thunder begin their season October 19th at the Worcester Railers. The home opener is set for October 25th.