Career
Before playing in the NHL, Cloutier played parts of four seasons with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and one season with the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). He had a successful time with his teams. He helped the Storm when they went on a run in the playoffs. They defeated the Sudbury Wolves and Plymouth Whalers. They went on to defeat the Ottawa 67's four games to one in the final to win the J. Ross Robertson Cup and earn a berth into the Memorial Cup tournament. The Storm went 0–3 in the tournament and were eliminated.
He was drafted 26th overall by the New York Rangers in the 1994 NHL entry draft. On January 3, 1998, Cloutier made his NHL debut, stopping all 16 shots against in a 3–2 win against the Washington Capitals. On January 6, the Rangers game Cloutier his first NHL start. He stopped 26 shots in a 4–2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes. On April 4, 1998, a notable moment came when Cloutier participated in a brawl between the Rangers and the New York Rangers. During the brawl, Cloutier fought Islanders goaltender Tommy Salo and then challenged the rest of the Islanders players on the bench to a fight.
On June 26, 1999, the Rangers traded Cloutier along with Niklas Sundström, and both a 2000 first and third-round draft pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a 1999 first-round draft pick. On January 14, 2000, the league suspended Cloutier for four games. This came after an incident where Cloutier cross-checked Islanders player Tim Connolly and then kicked him in the head while he was down on the ice. On December 2, Cloutier stopped all 26 shots to earn his first NHL career shutout in a 3–0 win against the Detroit Red Wings. Over his two seasons with the Lightning, Cloutier was forced to miss playing time after suffering multiple injuries.
On February 7, 2001, the Lightning traded Cloutier to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Adrian Aucoin and a 2001 second-round draft pick. On April 12, he made his NHL playoff debut in Game 1, stopping 23 of 28 shots in a 5–4 loss against the Colorado Avalanche. The Canucks were eventually eliminated by the Avalanche in a sweep. On July 18, 2001, Cloutier signed a contract extension to stay with the Canucks. After starting goaltender Bob Essensa signed a contract with the Buffalo Sabres, the Canucks decided to upgrade Cloutier to their starting goaltender. On March 26, 2002, Cloutier recorded his seventh shoutout of the season and set a Canucks franchise record for most shutouts in a season.,During Game 3 in the first round of the playoffs, Detroit Red Wings player Nicklas Lidström scored on Cloutier with a slapshot from centre ice. Many saw this as the moment where the series tilted in favour of Detroit and they were eventually eliminated by the Red Wings four games to two. On July 15, 2003, Cloutier signed a one-year contract to stay with the Canucks. On July 27, 2004, Cloutier signed a one-year contract to stay with the Canucks. After the NHL entered in a lockout, Cloutier decided to head overseas after signing a contract to play for EC KAC of the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (EBEL). He played 13 regular season games with KAC, going 7–0–5 with a 1.94 save percentage and a .937 goals against average. He returned to the Canucks after the lockout ended. On August 18, 2005, Cloutier signed a two-year, $5 million contract to stay with the Canucks. Cloutier was forced to miss the rest of the season after partially tearing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and needing reconstructive knee surgery.
On July 5, 2006, the Canucks traded Cloutier to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for a 2007 second-round draft pick and a 2009 conditional draft pick.
On September 27, 2006, Cloutier signed a two-year contract extension with the Kings. He had to miss time after suffering a torn hip labrum which almost ended his career. He underwent surgery to have it repaired. He grew frustrated with the Kings organization after they flew him to Colorado to have the surgery but placed him in a motel 31 miles away from the surgery clinic. On June 21, 2008, the Kings bought out the rest of Cloutier's contract and he became a free agent. Cloutier retired from playing professional ice hockey in 2009.
Canada