Eric Guy Chouinard (born July 8, 1980) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

-born

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

player who played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) with the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Well ...

and

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...

Playing career

Chouinard was born in Atlanta during his father's days with the

Atlanta Flames The Atlanta Flames were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta from 1972 until 1980. They played home games in the Omni Coliseum and were members of the West and later Patrick divisions of the National Hockey League (NHL). Along with t ...

, but raised in Cap-Rouge,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. As a youth, he played in the 1993

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...

with a

minor ice hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from c ...

team from

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional cou ...

Chouinard has played for Team Canada in international competition despite getting offers to play for

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

. After scoring 296 points in 180 games with the

Quebec Remparts There have been two junior ice hockey franchises known as the Quebec Remparts (french: Remparts de Québec) that played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The first edition played from 1969 to 1985; the current franchise has pla ...

of the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The ...

, he became a 1st-round draft choice (16th overall) by the

in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. Since then, he has also played for the

and the

, where he played alongside his cousin,

Marc Chouinard Marc Chouinard (born May 6, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre- winger who played six seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). Biography Chouinard was born in Charlesbourg, Quebec City. As a youth, he played in the 199 ...

, during the 2003–04 season. In 2006–2007, Chouinard played four games in Switzerland for HC Sierre-Anniviers. He received an offer to play for the Straubing Tigers of the German

DEL Del, or nabla, is an operator used in mathematics (particularly in vector calculus) as a vector differential operator, usually represented by the nabla symbol ∇. When applied to a function defined on a one-dimensional domain, it denotes ...

where he played until January 19, 2009 when he was suspended by the team. On September 2, 2009 Chouinard signed a contract with the Nurnberg Ice Tigers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. On January 15, 2011, he signed a new two-year contract extension with the Ice Tigers that will take him through the 2012–2013 season. Approaching his final professional years, Chouinard played three seasons with Brûleurs de Loups of the French

Ligue Magnus The Ligue Magnus, currently known as Synerglace Ligue Magnus for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's division of the French ice hockey pyramid, established in 1906. The league operated under a variety of names before taking that of its champio ...

before ending his career by returning to Germany for a single season in 2017–18 with the Bayreuth Tigers of the

DEL2 DEL2 (also known as DEL II) is the second tier ice hockey league in Germany, below the '' Deutsche Eishockey Liga'' (DEL) and ahead of the '' Oberliga''. Founded in 2013 to replace the defunct '' 2nd Bundesliga'', DEL2 is administered by ESBG, ...

Personal life

Chouinard is the son of former

star

Guy Chouinard Guy Camil Chouinard (born October 20, 1956) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the 1970s and 80's for the Atlanta Flames, Calgary Flames, and St. Louis Blues. He has also had a lengthy career as a coach in the QMJH ...

, and the cousin of

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chouinard, Eric 1980 births American emigrants to Canada EHC Bayreuth players Brûleurs de Loups players Canadian ice hockey centres HC Dinamo Minsk players Fredericton Canadiens players Ice hockey people from Georgia (U.S. state) Ice hockey people from Quebec City Laval Titan Collège Français players Living people Minnesota Wild players Montreal Canadiens draft picks Montreal Canadiens players National Hockey League first-round draft picks Philadelphia Flyers players Philadelphia Phantoms players Phoenix Coyotes players Sportspeople from Atlanta Quebec Citadelles players Quebec Remparts players San Antonio Rampage players Straubing Tigers players Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers players Utah Grizzlies (AHL) players Vålerenga Ishockey players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Belarus Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Norway Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Germany