Benoit Doucet (born April 23, 1963) is a Canadian-German

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

coach and a former professional player. He spent most of his professional playing career in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and represented the German Men's National Team at the

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

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 The Gatineau Olympiques are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Gatineau, Quebec, that plays in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). Starting with the 2021–22 season, the Olympiques play home games at Centre Slush Pupp ...

in the junior league

QMJHL The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL; , LHJMQ), formerly the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The league includes teams in Quebec ...

alongside

John Chabot John David Chabot (born May 18, 1962) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and coach. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1983 to 1991, and then played in Europe from 1991 until retiring in 2001. He later worked as a ...

and

Sylvain Turgeon Joseph Sylvain Dorilla Turgeon (born January 17, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played twelve seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Hartford Whalers, New Jersey Devils, Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Se ...

and then spent the 1984-85 season at the

Université de Moncton The Université de Moncton is a Canadian French-language university in New Brunswick. It includes campuses in Edmundston, Moncton, and Shippagan. The university was founded in 1963 following the recommendations of the royal commission on hig ...

. He went undrafted, but was invited to the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The ...

training camp in 1985 and made 79 AHL appearances for Calgary's affiliate

Moncton Golden Flames The Moncton Golden Flames were a professional ice hockey team based in Moncton, New Brunswick, playing home games at the Moncton Coliseum. The team operated in the American Hockey League between 1984–85 AHL season, 1984 and 1986–87 AHL season, ...

in the 1985-86 season. Doucet never landed a spot on the Flames' NHL roster and after competing in the Canadian National Team system in 1986-87, 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. He spent his first two years in

in the country's second division with Duisburger SC and ECD Sauerland, displaying his scoring prowess: 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 EV Landshut, also known as EVL Landshut Eishockey and formerly known as the Landshut Cannibals, are a professional ice hockey team based in Landshut, Bavaria, Germany. They currently play in Deutsche Eishockey Liga 2, the second level of ice hock ...

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 Düsseldorfer Eislauf-Gemeinschaft or Düsseldorfer EG (short DEG) is a German professional ice hockey team in Düsseldorf. It was Germany's most successful hockey club for a long time and had many international players. The famous Eisstadion at th ...

, 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. One of the great moments of his career came in game five of the 1993 finals between arch rivals DEG and

Kölner Haie The Kölner Haie (English: ''Cologne Sharks'') are an ice hockey club based in Cologne, Germany, that plays in the professional Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). The team was one of the founding members of the DEL. The ''Kölner Haie'' play their ho ...

, whe
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

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 The first World Cup of Hockey ( WCH), or the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, was the inaugural edition of the event, replacing the Canada Cup as one of the world championships of ice hockey. Inaugural ''World Cup of Hockey'' The first edition of the ...

Coaching career

He worked as a coach at hockey academies in Canada and was named head coach of German

DEL2 DEL2 (also known as Deutsche Eishockey Liga 2 or DEL II) is the second tier ice hockey league in Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Se ...

side

Fischtown Pinguins The Fischtown Pinguins, also known as REV Bremerhaven, are a professional ice hockey team based in Bremerhaven, Germany. From 2004 to 2016 the team played at the second tier of ice hockey in Germany, known as the 2nd Bundesliga until the 2012–1 ...

on June 3, 2015. He was sacked by the Pinguins on January 25, 2016 despite sitting in second place in the

. In 2020, he took over the coaching job at ESV Waldkirchen in the German minor league Landesliga. In June 2022, Doucet was named head coach of German Landesliga side EV Moosburg. In 2023, he went back to Waldkirchen.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Doucet, Benoit 1963 births Düsseldorfer EG players ECD Sauerland players EHC Olten players EV Landshut players Füchse Duisburg players German ice hockey centres Hull Olympiques players Canadian ice hockey coaches Ice hockey players at the 1994 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics Iserlohn Roosters players Kölner Haie players Living people Moncton Golden Flames players Olympic ice hockey players for Germany Ice hockey people from Montreal Université de Moncton alumni Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Naturalized citizens of Germany German ice hockey coaches Grefrather EG players Naturalised ice hockey players