Réal Cloutier

Réal Cloutier (born July 30, 1956) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Cloutier spent five prolific seasons as a winger in the World Hockey Association (WHA) with the Quebec Nordiques. In his rookie season as a professional, he scored 26 goals in 63 games. He proceeded to reach his prime over the next couple of seasons, which started with scoring 60 goals in his sophomore season in 1975. The next season saw him score 66 goals with 75 assists to record a career-high 114 total points as the Nordiques advanced all the way to the Avco Cup Finals. In 17 postseason games that year, he scored 14 goals and had 27 total points as Quebec won their only championship. Cloutier recorded two further 100-point seasons (which included a career-high 75 goals in 1978-79) prior to the team being absorbed into the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1979; in 369 total games in the WHA, he had 566 total points. He scored 42 goals in 67 games in the first season in the NHL in 1979-80 before injuries hindered him in his next two seasons with the team that saw him score 80 combined goals in his last three seasons with Quebec. He was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in 1983, but troubles with ice time saw him score 24 total goals in 81 games over two years.