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Chouinard playing for Columbus in S16

After retiring from the SHL after five seasons at the ripe age of 22, Mathias Chouinard was quickly labeled a disappointment. However, for a player drafted 43rd overall, he was actually quite consistent and a stable force on the defensive unit of both the Toronto Stars and the then brand new Manhattan Rage.

In his five-year SHL career, Chouinard chalked up 197 games, scoring seven goals, 44 assists, -3 +/-, 731 penalty minutes, 463 hits, and 255 blocked shots. Sure, he was no world beater, but the wiley veteran from the United States certainly proved himself to be a solid defensive defenseman and was a solid addition to the defensive cores he served on.

Once he retired, Chouinard fell off of the SHL map, but his hockey career did not end. Instead, it flourished, as the American is still lacing up the skates in the NHL at the age of 34. Why not take a look at how Chouinard has gotten where he is now and the path he has taken post-SHL?

Minnesota Wild
Immediately after retiring, Chouinard fielded contract offers from the Minnesota Wild, New York Islanders, and the Vancouver Canucks, before ultimately settling on joining the back-end of the Wild. He had to earn his way onto the roster out of training camp and even after that, he was still a healthy scratch for the first 20 games of the season. As he was about to be sent down, an injury allowed Chouinard to see ice time, where he immediately flourished. Much like in the SHL, he was no offensive force, but his defensive skill was immediately recognized and appreciated. In that first season, he went on to play 57 games, tally a shocking 15 points, a +4 +/-, 313 penalty minutes, 101 hits, and 54 blocked shots. His promising season earned him the praise of his teammates and coaches, and guaranteed him a job for the next few seasons.

After smooth sailing in S7, Chouinard hit a rough patch in S8, after suffering multiple injuries that limited him to 43 games, which severely limited his season totals. Once he proved his health and return to form in S9, Chouinard was put on the trade block and shipped off in a trade before S10.

Ultimately, Chouinard would wind up spending four seasons as a member of the Wild, finishing his career in Minnesota with 255 appearances, 46 points, +5, 893 penalty minutes, 409 hits, and 169 blocked shots.

San Jose Sharks
After rumors that the Dallas Stars were set to close a deal to bring in Chouinard, the San Jose Sharks swooped in at the last minute and secured a deal for the veteran. The move proved extremely beneficial intially for Chouinard as he had a banner year offensively, showing that maybe he had finally figured out the offensive side of his game, totaling 18 points in 73 games. His defensive game did not slump either as he finished with a +4, 140 penalty minutes, 130 hits, and 54 blocked shots.

Reasonably, San Jose entered S11 with high expectations for Chouinard, but he fell flat on his face. While he was a starter for much of the year, he wound up finishing the year as a healthy scratch for the final 10 games after the Sharks were finally able to replace him. In 67 games, the American disappointed significantly with just three points, a -7, 311 penalty minutes, 96 hits, and 29 blocked shots.

After proving to not be able to avoid the box consistently and playing poorly when on the ice anyways, the Sharks bought him out, leaving Chouinard scrambling for offers.

CSKA Moscow
There were initial expectations that Chouinard would return to the Wild or embark on a new experience and join the Edmonton Oilers or Detroit Red Wings. However, neither of these came to fruition as Chouinard found himself without a job. After failing to secure a job in the NHL, Chouinard turned his attention overseas, fielding offers from Farjestad BK and Linkopings HC in the Swedish Elite League and Dinamo Riga and Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League before finally signing with CSKA Moscow of the KHL. In signing in Russia, Chouinard hoped to re-prove his abilities and return to the NHL after a few seasons. Sadly, things did not turn out as hoped.

In his first season in Moscow, Chouinard struggled as he did in his year in San Jose, but also battled injuries on top of those struggles. In 56 games, he tallied five points, a -1, 220 penalty minutes, 100 hits, and 45 blocked shots. While certainly an improvement, it was certainly not going to get NHL teams to start beating down his door once more. So, Mathias turned his attention to S13, which would hopefully be his breakout year in the KHL.

However, it was not. In fact, it was the exact opposite. Chouinard suffered multiple injuries and was ultimately released during the season, after playing in just 22 games, in which he tallied two points, a -3, 20 penalty minutes, seven hits, and two blocked shots. Defeated, Chouinard looked to return to the States at any cost.

Syracuse Crunch
No former NHL player likes signing with an AHL team, but every once in a while, one has to do so in order to re-establish themselves. After indicating his desire to return to the States, interest was lukewarm with just the Hamilton Bulldogs, Syracuse Crunch, and Toronto Marlies, expressing interest. Chouinard eventually decided to sign on with the Crunch, which turned out to be a brilliant choice.

While at a lower-level, Chouinard still proved to be of superior talent to his competition, demonstrating dominance on defense and an improved offensive game. In addition, he earned the "C" on his jersey as he helped numerous youngsters on the team adjust to the professional game.

He spent two seasons in Syracuse, appearing in 155 games and tallying 35 points, a +7, 297 penalty minutes, 308 hits, and 164 blocked shots. His performance finally earned him a second look in the NHL.

Columbus Blue Jackets
After re-establishing himself, Chouinard still only had lukewarm NHL interest, but any interest was great to him. Both the Columbus Blue Jackets and Los Angeles Kings offered him a deal, before Chouinard opted to his talents to Ohio.

In S16, his only season in Columbus, Chouinard finally proved to other NHL teams that he was still that old player from Minnesota and his first season in San Jose and that his struggles in his second season with the Sharks and in Russia were a thing of the past. In 60 games, he tallied 12 points, a neutral +/-. 100 penalty minutes, 112 hits, and 55 blocked shots.

Boston Bruins
Despite Columbus being interested in re-signing him, Chouinard got an offer he could not refuse from the Boston Bruins, being offered a two-year deal instead of the one-year deal being offered by Columbus. Chouinard is currently looking forward to settling in with his new teammates and having a successful debut season in Boston.

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1,161 words

Chouinard was a BOSS
still is, it seems

Oh by the way, my drop down is fully updated with season-by-season, because I have nothing better to do. I highly doubt anyone is interested, but just in case.

What was Good Guy Chou doing in S13? Only 20 Pims?

Originally posted by diamond_ace@Feb 20 2014, 12:43 AM
What was Good Guy Chou doing in S13? Only 20 Pims?

Dem injuries slowed down his fury.