Dan LaCouture

Daniel LaCouture
Daniel LaCouture
Born	April 18, 1977 (age 49)
Occupation	Ice hockey player
Years active	1997–2011
Known for	Professional ice hockey left winger in the NHL

Daniel Scott LaCouture (born April 18, 1977) is a retired American professional ice hockey player who played as a left winger in the National Hockey League (NHL). He completed his high school education at South Hadley High School in Massachusetts.

Playing career

Selected 29th overall by the New York Islanders in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, LaCouture was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in 1997. After honing his skills with Edmonton's AHL team, the Hamilton Bulldogs, he secured a steady role in the NHL during the 2000–01 season and netted his first NHL goal on October 17, 2000, versus the Boston Bruins.

On March 13, 2001, LaCouture was acquired by the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Sven Butenschon. His best NHL season came in 2001–02, when he tallied six goals and eleven assists across 82 games. He remained with Pittsburgh until 2003 before being traded to the New York Rangers as part of a multi-player transaction.

During the NHL lockout of 2004–05, LaCouture signed with the Providence Bruins. The following season, he split time between the NHL's Boston Bruins and Switzerland’s HC Davos. As an unrestricted free agent in 2006, he joined the New Jersey Devils, appearing in six NHL contests and playing 39 games for their AHL affiliate, the Lowell Devils. After signing with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007, he faced suspension for not reporting to their AHL affiliate and subsequently returned to Switzerland to participate in 15 games with HC Lugano.

Following a successful tryout period, LaCouture secured a one-year two-way contract with the Carolina Hurricanes. After being assigned to their AHL affiliate, he departed mid-season to join Barys Astana of the KHL. His professional career concluded in 2011 with Norwegian team Lørenskog IK competing in the GET-ligaen.

In 2014, LaCouture became one of nine former NHL players involved in a class action lawsuit against the NHL, claiming that the league profited while knowingly exposing players to long-term head injury risks.

Regular season and playoffs

			Regular season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1992–93	Natick High School	HS-MA	20	38	34	72	46	—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	Natick High School	HS-MA	21	52	49	101	58	—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	Springfield Olympics	NEJHL	52	44	56	100	98	—	—	—	—	—
1995–96	Springfield Olympics	NEJHL	29	24	35	59	79	13	12	13	25	23
1996–97	Boston University	HE	31	13	12	25	18	—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	Hamilton Bulldogs	AHL	77	15	10	25	31	5	1	0	1	0
1998–99	Hamilton Bulldogs	AHL	72	17	14	31	73	9	2	1	3	2
1998–99	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	3	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—
1999–00	Hamilton Bulldogs	AHL	70	23	17	40	85	6	2	1	3	0
1999–00	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	5	0	0	0	10	1	0	0	0	0
2000–01	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	37	2	4	6	29	—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	11	0	0	0	14	5	0	0	0	2
2001–02	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	82	6	11	17	71
2002–03	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	44	2	2	4	72
2002–03	New York Rangers	NHL	24	1	4	5	0
2003–04 NHL season	New York Rangers	NHL	59	5	2	7	82
2004–05 AHL season	Providence Bruins	AHL	64	12	15	27	52	6	1	1	2	4
2005–06 Nationalliga A season	HC Davos	National League A	4	2	1	3	4
2005–06 NHL season	Boston Bruins	NHL	55	2	2	4	53
2006–07 AHL season	Lowell Devils	AHL	39	8	3	11	33
2006–07 NHL season	New Jersey Devils	NHL	6	0	0	0	7
2007–08 Nationalliga A season	HC Lugano	NLA	15	1	1	2	18
2008–09 NHL season	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL	11	2	0	2	10
2008–09 AHL season	Albany River Rats	AHL	12	1	5	6	7
2008–09 KHL season	Barys Astana	Kontinental Hockey League	12	2	1	3	51
2009–10 AHL season	Providence Bruins	AHL	9	2	0	2	7
2010–11 GET-ligaen season	Lørenskog IK	GET-ligaen (NOR)	30	16	13	29	18
AHL totals			343	77	64	141	280	26	6	3	9	6
NHL totals			337	20	25	45	348	6	0	0	0	2

International

Year	Team	Tournament	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1997	United States	WJC	6	1	0	1	4
2002	United States	WC	7	2	2	4	0
Junior career totals			6	1	0	1	4
Senior career totals			7	2	2	4	0