The Calgary Flames alumni group shared this morning that former player Guy Chouinard has passed away at age 69.
Hailing from Quebec City, Quebec, Chouinard was a dominant major junior player in the early 1970s for the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts. In three years with the Remparts, Chouinard averaged just over two points per game, finishing with 147 goals and 359 points in 179 games.
That impressive run led to him being selected with the 28th overall pick (then in the second round) of the 1974 NHL Draft by the Atlanta Flames. He only appeared in nine games for the Flames throughout his first two professional seasons. Still, he won the Calder Cup with the AHL’s Nova Scotia Voyageurs in 1976, scoring 40 goals and 80 points in 70 regular-season contests, with another six goals and 15 points in nine playoff games.
His one-year stint with the Voyageurs would be his last in the minor leagues for some time. Beginning in the 1976-77 season, Chouinard was one of, if not the best, offensive players on the Flames, and remained that after the move to Calgary for the 1980-81 season. In the team’s final four years in Georgia, Chouinard scored 126 and 292 points in 309 games while earning votes for the Lady Byng Trophy in 1979-80.
Much of the reason the Flames nearly made the Stanley Cup Final in their first year in Alberta was due to Chouinard, who scored three goals and 17 points in 16 games during that year’s playoff run. He finished his time in Calgary after the 1982-83 campaign with 67 goals and 235 points in 196 contests. The Flames traded him to the St. Louis Blues for future considerations ahead of the 1983-84 season, and he finished with 12 goals and 46 points in 64 games.
Retiring early after the 1984-85 season, Chouinard bounced around the QMJHL until the 2009-10 season, serving as head coach of the Longueuil Chevaliers, Victoriaville Tigres, Verdun Jr. Canadiens, Trois-Rivières Draveurs, Sherbrooke Faucons, Laval Titan Collège Français, Remparts, and the Prince Edward Island Rocket. He was inducted into the QMJHL Hall of Fame in 2005 and is second in games coached (988), wins (515), and championships (4).
Still, despite his lengthy run as a bench boss in the QMJHL, he’ll be remembered as one of the greatest players in Flames history. He was the franchise leader in assists and points when he retired, and has since fallen to eighth and ninth, respectively.
We at PHR send our condolences to Chouinard’s family, friends, and loved ones.