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

Benoit Doucet
Born (1963-04-23) April 23, 1963 (age 61)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 183 lb (83 kg; 13 st 1 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Moncton Golden Flames
EV Landshut
EHC Olten
Düsseldorfer EG
Kölner Haie
National team  Germany
Playing career 1985–1999

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

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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

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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

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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

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1979–80 Lac St-Louis Lions QMAAA 42 42 42 84 41 5 3 7 10
1980–81 Hull Olympiques QMJHL 70 25 38 63 47
1981–82 Hull Olympiques QMJHL 62 35 65 100 40 14 10 16 26 4
1982–83 Hull Olympiques QMJHL 68 61 76 137 53 7 8 8 16 8
1983–84 Lausanne HC SUI.2
1984–85 University of Moncton AUS 24 19 22 41 0
1985–86 Moncton Golden Flames AHL 79 26 34 60 18 10 3 2 5 7
1986–87 Canadian National Team Intl 63 27 31 58 86
1986–87 Moncton Golden Flames AHL 5 0 3 3 17
1988–89 Duisburger SV FRG.2 43 86 94 180 78
1989–90 ECD Sauerland FRG.2 51 94 78 172 117
1990–91 EV Landshut 1.GBun 43 45 42 87 82 5 9 7 16 12
1991–92 Düsseldorfer EG 1.GBun 44 24 34 58 37 9 6 6 12 13
1992–93 Düsseldorfer EG 1.GBun 17 3 5 8 13 11 6 9 15 10
1993–94 Düsseldorfer EG 1.GBun 44 24 25 49 61 11 3 4 7 16
1994–95 Düsseldorfer EG DEL 39 24 33 57 66 10 5 5 10 26
1995–96 Düsseldorfer EG DEL 46 30 33 63 84 13 2 11 13 34
1996–97 Düsseldorfer EG DEL 46 19 30 49 66 4 1 2 3 8
1997–98 Düsseldorfer EG DEL 45 12 41 53 67 3 0 1 1 8
1998–99 Grefrather EV GER.2 10 2 7 9 32
1998–99 Kölner Haie DEL 6 0 1 1 6
1.GBun totals 148 96 106 202 193 36 24 26 50 51
DEL totals 182 85 138 223 289 30 8 19 27 76

International

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Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM
1993 Germany WC 6 1 3 4 6
1994 Germany OG 8 3 0 3 15
1995 Germany WC 5 3 0 3 6
1996 Germany WC 6 1 0 1 18
1996 Germany WCH 4 1 0 1 2
1997 Germany OGQ 3 1 2 3 12
1998 Germany OG 4 0 0 0 6
Senior totals 36 10 5 15 65

References

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  1. ^ "Site non officiel des Olympiques de Gatineau". lesolympiques.qc.ca. Archived from the original on 2016-03-02. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
  2. ^ "Minor League Sports News on OurSports Central". pddjqtm.oursportscentral.com. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
  3. ^ Diepold, Christian. "Interview mit Benoit Doucet (von hockey-news.info)". www.eishockey-online.com. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
  4. ^ Labbé, Richard (29 March 2010). "LNH: du rêve à la réalité | Richard Labbé | Hockey". La Presse (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2016-02-20.
  5. ^ "Liebes-Geschichte am Rande und S". www.bz-duisburg.de. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
  6. ^ Scheer, Mareike. "Ex-DEG-Stürmer Doucet ist neuer Trainer in Bremerhaven". NRZ. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
  7. ^ "Legends of Hockey - Time Capsule - Pro Classics: World Cup Hockey 1996 Germany Team Roster". www.hhof.com. Archived from the original on 2014-08-03. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
  8. ^ "Fischtown Pinguins : Benoit Doucet übernimmt das Kommando". www.fischtown-pinguins.de. Archived from the original on 2016-03-10. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
  9. ^ "Fischtown Pinguins : Führungswechsel bei den Pinguinen". www.fischtown-pinguins.de. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
  10. ^ "Ex Profi Doucet hat beim ESV Waldkirchen Großes vor – ESV Waldkirchen" (in German). Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  11. ^ "Neuer Trainer für erste Mannschaft". EV Moosburg (in German). 2022-06-16. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
  12. ^ "Neuer Coach für den EV Moosburg: Robert Steinmann löst Benoit Doucet ab". www.merkur.de (in German). 2023-02-27. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
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