Dan Cloutier
Dan Cloutier (b. April 22, 1976 in Mont-Laurier, Quebec) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender in the National Hockey League. He currently plays for the Vancouver Canucks, and has been their number one goalie since 2001. Currently Cloutier is out on a injury to his Anterior cruciate ligament leaving Alex Auld as the lead goaltender.
Criticism
While Cloutier has put up respectable regular season numbers over the past several years, he has received criticism for his performance in the playoffs. Until the 2004 playoffs, Cloutier's save percentage was well below 90% and goals against average significantly above 3 goals against per game, numbers generally considered very poor for a starting goaltender in the NHL. Cloutier's critics often point to a goal scored by Nicklas Lidstrom against him in the 2002 playoffs, in which Lidstrom scored on a seemingly harmless shot from center ice, 90 feet away.
Cloutier showed signs of improvement during the 2004 playoffs, posting a 2.19 goals against average and a 92.2% save percentage. However, these numbers only represent 137 minutes of play; Cloutier was injured early in the third game of the series and did not return.
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