| Position: | Centre |
| Shoots: | Left |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 2 |
| Weight Lb: | 192 |
| Played For: | VEU Feldkirch EC VSV Asiago SC Langnau Wedemark Scorpions Frankfurt Lions Chicago Blackhawks |
| Birth Date: | May 17, 1970 |
| Birth Place: | Charlemagne, Quebec, Canada |
| Draft: | 62nd overall |
| Draft Year: | 1988 |
| Draft Team: | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| Career Start: | 1990 |
| Career End: | 2012 |
Daniel Gauthier (born May 17, 1970) is a Canadian former ice hockey centre. He played 5 games in the National Hockey League with the Chicago Blackhawks during the 1994–95 season. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1990 to 2012, was mainly spent in European leagues.
Gauthier was drafted 62nd overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft. He turned pro in 1990 in the International Hockey League with the Albany Choppers for one game before joining the ECHL's Knoxville Cherokees, scoring 41 goals and 93 assists for 134 points. In his rookie season Gauthier was named to the 1990–91 ECHL First All-Star Team and also won the John A. Daley Trophy as the ECHL's Rookie of the Year.
He then had spells in the IHL for the Muskegon Lumberjacks and later the Cleveland Lumberjacks following their relocation. In 1993, Gauthier signed with the Florida Panthers as a free agent, but was assigned to the IHL's Cincinnati Cyclones and never played for the Panthers. A year later he became a free agent once more and signed with the Chicago Blackhawks. He was initially assigned to the IHL's Indianapolis Ice, but eventually played 5 NHL games during the 1994–95 season but scored no points.
After splitting the 1995–96 season with the Ice and the Peoria Rivermen, Gauthier moved to Europe. Brief spells in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga with the Frankfurt Lions and the Wedemark Scorpions were followed by a move to the Austrian Hockey League with VEU Feldkirch. After three seasons, Gauthier moved to the Swiss Nationalliga A and joined SCL Tigers for another three years. He then rejoined Feldkirch in another three season spell before moving to Italy's Serie A, joining HC Asiago. He returned to Austria and signed for EC VSV. In 2008, Gauthier returned to North America and played in the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey (LNAH) with spells for the Saint-Hyacinthe Top Design and the Saguenay 98.3 before returning to Feldkirch once more.
In September 2022, Gauthier was named as the head coach of the Bâtisseurs de Montcalm of the LNAH, an expansion team in their first season, after having previously coached at the junior hockey level.[1]
His son, Danick Gauthier (born October 24, 1991) also was a professional hockey player.[2]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |||||
| 1985–86 | Laval-Laurentides-Lanaudière Régents | QMAAA | 30 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 14 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 8 | ||
| 1986–87 | Longueuil Chevaliers | QMJHL | 64 | 23 | 22 | 45 | 23 | 18 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 15 | ||
| 1986–87 | Longueuil Chevaliers | M-Cup | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1987–88 | Victoriaville Tigres | QMJHL | 66 | 43 | 47 | 90 | 53 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 1988–89 | Victoriaville Tigres | QMJHL | 64 | 41 | 75 | 116 | 84 | 16 | 12 | 17 | 29 | 30 | ||
| 1989–90 | Victoriaville Tigres | QMJHL | 62 | 45 | 69 | 114 | 32 | 16 | 8 | 19 | 27 | 16 | ||
| 1990–91 | Knoxville Cherokees | ECHL | 63 | 41 | 93 | 134 | 44 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 1990–91 | Albany Choppers | IHL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | Muskegon Lumberjacks | IHL | 72 | 21 | 20 | 41 | 42 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 8 | ||
| 1992–93 | Cleveland Lumberjacks | IHL | 84 | 42 | 68 | 110 | 102 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 14 | ||
| 1993–94 | Cincinnati Cyclones | IHL | 84 | 32 | 37 | 69 | 115 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 14 | ||
| 1994–95 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | Indianapolis Ice | IHL | 66 | 22 | 50 | 72 | 53 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | Indianapolis Ice | IHL | 70 | 28 | 39 | 67 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | Peoria Rivermen | IHL | 10 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 6 | ||
| 1996–97 | Frankfurt Lions | DEL | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | Wedemark Scorpions | DEL | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | VEU Feldkirch | AUT | 51 | 19 | 34 | 53 | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | VEU Feldkirch | AUT | 42 | 11 | 32 | 43 | 43 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | VEU Feldkirch | AUT | 45 | 28 | 35 | 63 | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–00 | SC Langnau | NLA | 45 | 13 | 22 | 35 | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | SC Langnau | NLA | 39 | 21 | 24 | 45 | 68 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | SC Langnau | NLA | 26 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | VEU Feldkirch | AUT-2 | 8 | 12 | 18 | 30 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | VEU Feldkirch | AUT | 45 | 25 | 32 | 57 | 38 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 33 | ||
| 2003–04 | VEU Feldkirch | EBEL | 32 | 16 | 13 | 29 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | Asiago | ITA | 21 | 3 | 20 | 23 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | EC VSV | EBEL | 16 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | ||
| 2004–05 | EC Dornbirn | AUT-2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | EC VSV | EBEL | 48 | 20 | 52 | 72 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2006–07 | EC VSV | EBEL | 50 | 18 | 46 | 64 | 64 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 | ||
| 2007–08 | EC VSV | EBEL | 31 | 7 | 17 | 24 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 2008–09 | Saint-Hyacinthe Chiefs | LNAH | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | 98.3 FM de Saguenay | LNAH | 22 | 7 | 23 | 30 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | VEU Feldkirch | AUT-2 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 16 | ||
| 2009–10 | Marquis de Saguenay | LNAH | 43 | 17 | 40 | 57 | 32 | 12 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 16 | ||
| 2010–11 | VEU Feldkirch | AUT-2 | 28 | 11 | 38 | 49 | 60 | 12 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 20 | ||
| 2011–12 | VEU Feldkirch | AUT-2 | 29 | 11 | 35 | 46 | 30 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 2 | ||
| AUT/EBEL totals | 357 | 152 | 268 | 420 | 289 | 17 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 63 | ||||
| NHL totals | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||