Consistent Cloutier leads Hounds, nothing new on OAs
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
Brady Martin and Travis Hayes symbolize the stars of the future.
And Marco Mignosa, Owen Allard and Noel Nordh represent the recent – and much-needed – reinforcements.
But what about Justin Cloutier?
Well, when it comes to the Soo Greyhounds forward group, Cloutier embodies continuous excellence.
Through 18 games, and a 10-8-0-0 record, the 19-year-old (2005 birth year) winger has been indispensable.
“I think he’s been our most-consistent forward. He’s contributed energy, forechecking, tracking, offence and leadership,” said head coach John Dean, whose club is preparing for three straight home games, beginning with Wednesday’s 7:07 p.m. tilt with Erie. “He’s relentless. I don’t think I’ve seen a player pursue the puck quite like Justin Cloutier over the time I’ve been here.”
Dean has been the Greyhounds head coach since 2018.
In his fourth OHL season, Cloutier leads the Soo with nine goals and is tied for second in team scoring with a 9-6-15 stat line. In addition, his plus-minus is plus-6.
But numbers tell just part of the story.
“He doesn’t seem to have a bad game. His not-so-good game, his B game, is a lot of players A game,” the Soo coach added. “He brings an energy level to the rink before he even steps on the ice. And it’s absolutely contagious.”
“It obviously feels nice to hear that and to be recognized,” said Cloutier, the club’s first-round draft choice (No. 18 overall) in 2021, who put together a 24-18-42 performance a season ago. “I feel good about the strides I’ve taken with my game, but there’s always more.”
The five-foot-nine, 187-pound Ottawa native credited Dean and assistants Brendan Taylor and Daniel Nikandrov for his improvement.
Dean said Cloutier has underrated skill and has brought more of a shooting mentality to his game this season.
The veteran spoke of how establishing more of a scorer’s mind-set was a priority for him over the summer.
Cloutier doesn’t have goals, as far as specific numbers go. However, there are things he believes will help him achieve what he wants to.
“I want to extend my offensive-zone time, bring energy, a forechecking mentality and get shots inside the dots,” he added. “That, I believe, will get me paid.”
Dean talked about how Cloutier is the “same person when we go through adversity as when we experience success. I can’t say enough about him.”
Asked about the Otters (10-5-1-1), the Hounds bench boss described Wednesday’s opponent as a well-coached, fast, strong offensive team, with outstanding goaltending.
“They’re built to win, they expect to win this season,” Dean said. “It’ll be a real challenge for us.”
Allard (upper-body injury) is questionable for the Erie game and also for home games against Flint, 7:07 p.m. on Friday, and Windsor, 2:07 p.m. on Sunday. Chris Brown and Charlie Hilton, both out with upper-body ills, are listed as day-to-day.
The club expects both Brady Smith (upper) and Sam Bowness (lower) to return on Wednesday.
Notes:
Asked about the overage situation on Monday, general manager Kyle Raftis said the team is “monitoring it and evaluating things as we go.”
The Hounds continue to carry four OAs, but must be down to three by Jan. 9 – that’s the overage trade deadline.
“Ideally, you’d like to have it down to three for the players, because they are 20-year-olds,” the GM added. “But because of injuries and other things, no one has had to sit out for long periods and we continue to have discussions with other clubs.”
Now that CHL players will be allowed to compete for NCAA clubs, there’s speculation about the status of Chicago Steel (USHL) defenceman Callum Croskery.
Taken by the Hounds in the second round of the 2024 Priority Selections draft, Croskery is playing for the Steel and has a verbal commitment to eventually play at Boston College. That means the 16-year-old (2008 birth year) conceivably could skate for the Greyhounds, prior to beginning his NCAA career.
Raftis repeatedly said he would not comment on specific players.
“With these changes, everyone is trying to wrap their heads around it,” the GM did say. “With any player, there are going to be changes over the next 6-10 months about what their direction is. We’re right up there when it comes to developing players and it’s encouraging that we’ve had a lot of great conversations.”
Raftis also talked about how “it’ll be interesting to see how this all develops.”
