Benoit Doucet Explained

Birth Date:April 23, 1963
Birth Place:Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Height Ft:5
Height In:9
Weight Lb:183
Position:Centre
Shoots:Left
Played For:Moncton Golden Flames
EV Landshut
EHC Olten
Düsseldorfer EG
Kölner Haie
Ntl Team:GER
Career Start:1985
Career End:1999

Benoit Doucet (born April 23, 1963) is a Canadian-German ice hockey coach and a former professional player.

He spent most of his professional playing career in Germany and represented the German Men's National Team at the 1994 and 1998 Olympic Games and three World Championships. He is currently the head coach of ESV Waldkirchen in Germany.

Playing career

Doucet played for the Hull Olympiques in the junior league QMJHL[1] alongside John Chabot and Sylvain Turgeon and then spent the 1984-85 season at the Université de Moncton.

He went undrafted, but was invited to the Calgary Flames training camp in 1985 and made 79 AHL appearances for Calgary's affiliate Moncton Golden Flames in the 1985-86 season.[2] Doucet never landed a spot on the Flames' NHL roster and after competing in the Canadian National Team system in 1986-87,[3] he left North America to pursue a career in Europe. This proved to be a decision that he would never regret, Doucet said years later.[4]

He spent his first two years in Germany in the country's second division with Duisburger SC and ECD Sauerland, displaying his scoring prowess:[5] For Duisburg, Doucet registered 43 goals and 51 assists in 27 games through the 1988-89 season and then broke his own record the following season: He was virtually unstoppable as he totaled 67 goals and 60 assists in 33 games for the Iserlohn-based team.

Doucet's impact in Germany's second division led to strong interest from teams of the country's top-tier. He signed with EV Landshut in 1990 and continued his high-scoring ways in Germany's top division, tallying 45 goals and 42 assists in 43 contests.

Prior to the 1991-92 season, Doucet inked a contract with Düsseldorfer EG, the team that swept all before them in German ice hockey in the early 1990s. He won German championships with DEG in 92, 93 and 96 and played a total of 280 Bundesliga/DEL games for the Düsseldorf team, recording 136 goals and 198 assists.[6] One of the great moments of his career came in game five of the 1993 finals between arch rivals DEG and Kölner Haie, when Doucet scored the game-winner in overtime to give Düsseldorf their fourth straight title.

Doucet retired in 1998, but made a brief comeback in 1998-99, playing six games for Kölner Haie and ten games for second-division side Grefrather EV. After winding down his playing career, he returned to his native Quebec.

International career

Doucet received German citizenship in the early 90s. He played for the German Men's National Team at the 1994 and 1998 Olympic Games, attended three World Championships and the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.[7]

Coaching career

He worked as a coach at hockey academies in Canada and was named head coach of German DEL2 side Fischtown Pinguins on June 3, 2015.[8] He was sacked by the Pinguins on January 25, 2016 despite sitting in second place in the DEL2.[9] In 2020, he took over the coaching job at ESV Waldkirchen in the German minor league Landesliga.[10] In June 2022, Doucet was named head coach of German Landesliga side EV Moosburg.[11] In 2023, he went back to Waldkirchen.[12]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Team League GP GPG A Pts PIM
1979–80Lac St-Louis LionsQMAAA42 42 42 84 415 3 7 10
1980–81Hull OlympiquesQMJHL70 25 38 63 47
1981–82Hull OlympiquesQMJHL62 35 65 100 4014 10 16 26 4
1982–83Hull OlympiquesQMJHL68 61 76 137 537 8 8 16 8
1983–84Lausanne HCSUI.2
1984–85University of MonctonAUS24 19 22 41 0
1985–86Moncton Golden FlamesAHL79 26 34 60 1810 3 2 5 7
1986–87Canadian National TeamIntl63 27 31 58 86
1986–87Moncton Golden FlamesAHL5 0 3 3 17
1988–89Duisburger SVFRG.243 86 94 180 78
1989–90ECD SauerlandFRG.251 94 78 172 117
1990–91EV Landshut1.GBun43 45 42 87 825 9 7 16 12
1991–92Düsseldorfer EG1.GBun44 24 34 58 379 6 6 12 13
1992–93Düsseldorfer EG1.GBun17 3 5 8 1311 6 9 15 10
1993–94Düsseldorfer EG1.GBun44 24 25 49 6111 3 4 7 16
1994–95Düsseldorfer EGDEL39 24 33 57 6610 5 5 10 26
1995–96Düsseldorfer EGDEL46 30 33 63 8413 2 11 13 34
1996–97Düsseldorfer EGDEL46 19 30 49 664 1 2 3 8
1997–98Düsseldorfer EGDEL45 12 41 53 673 0 1 1 8
1998–99Grefrather EVGER.210 2 7 9 32
1998–99Kölner HaieDEL6 0 1 1 6
1.GBun totals 148961062021933624265051
DEL totals 18285138223289308192776

International

YearTeamEventGPGAPtsPIM
1993GermanyWC6 1 3 4 6
1994GermanyOG8 3 0 3 15
1995GermanyWC5 3 0 3 6
1996GermanyWC6 1 0 1 18
1996GermanyWCH4 1 0 1 2
1997GermanyOGQ3 1 2 3 12
1998GermanyOG4 0 0 0 6
Senior totals361051565

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Site non officiel des Olympiques de Gatineau. lesolympiques.qc.ca. 2016-02-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20160302151646/http://lesolympiques.qc.ca/joueuravie/doucet.php. 2016-03-02. dead.
  2. Web site: Minor League Sports News on OurSports Central. pddjqtm.oursportscentral.com. 2016-02-20.
  3. Web site: Interview mit Benoit Doucet (von hockey-news.info). www.eishockey-online.com. 2016-02-20. Christian. Diepold.
  4. News: LNH: du rêve à la réalité Richard Labbé Hockey. La Presse. 29 March 2010 . 2016-02-20. fr-CA . Labbé . Richard .
  5. Web site: Liebes-Geschichte am Rande und S. www.bz-duisburg.de. 2016-02-20.
  6. Web site: Ex-DEG-Stürmer Doucet ist neuer Trainer in Bremerhaven. NRZ. 2016-02-20. Mareike. Scheer.
  7. Web site: Legends of Hockey - Time Capsule - Pro Classics: World Cup Hockey 1996 Germany Team Roster. www.hhof.com. 2016-02-20. 2014-08-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20140803183606/http://www.hhof.com/htmlTimeCapsule/TeamRosterWCUP1996GER.shtml. dead.
  8. Web site: Fischtown Pinguins : Benoit Doucet übernimmt das Kommando. www.fischtown-pinguins.de. 2016-02-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20160310053804/http://www.fischtown-pinguins.de/news/displaysingle/?tx_ttnews%255Btt_news%255D=1992&cHash=cb0428afeb5647181a19cb2fa67af766. 2016-03-10. dead.
  9. Web site: Fischtown Pinguins : Führungswechsel bei den Pinguinen. www.fischtown-pinguins.de. 2016-02-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303194542/http://www.fischtown-pinguins.de/news/displaysingle/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=2157&cHash=0bd58857135343e40e5292285c1a5e92. 2016-03-03. dead.
  10. Web site: Ex Profi Doucet hat beim ESV Waldkirchen Großes vor – ESV Waldkirchen. 2021-05-17. de-DE.
  11. Web site: 2022-06-16 . Neuer Trainer für erste Mannschaft . 2023-02-12 . EV Moosburg . de.
  12. Web site: 2023-02-27 . Neuer Coach für den EV Moosburg: Robert Steinmann löst Benoit Doucet ab . 2023-10-05 . www.merkur.de . de.