Flames Best #16 Of All Time: Guy Chouinard

When we started this we mentioned that we were counting down the best players in FLAMES history by number. That included players from the Atlanta days because they are still Flames players and the franchise was just moved, not contracted and then rebooted. So with that out of the way, we’ve reached, I think, our first player to play significant time with Atlanta and Calgary, and that’s #16 Guy Chouinard.

Chouinard would play 10 seasons in the NHL, nine of them with the Atlanta/Calgary Flames. Chouinard was a second round pick (28th overall) by Atlanta in the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft. He would make his NHL debut at the age on 18 during the 1974-75 season, playing in only five games that season and five again in 1975-76. His real NHL experience would come during the 1976-77 season when Chouinard would play in 80 games, score 17 times and dish out 33 assists. This was just the start of a career that was on the upswing. He would score 109 goals over the next three seasons with Atlanta, including a herculean 1978-79 year where he would put 50 pucks in the net en route to a 107 point season at the ripe old age of 20. He is noteworthy for having scored the final goal in Atlanta Flames history during a playoff game against the NY Rangers. With the Flames move to Calgary after the 1979-80 season, he would continue to play great hockey recording back to back 80+ point season for the Flames, with his final Flames campaign (1982-83) being a 72 point season that would make him, at the time, the Flames all time leader in points and assists.

Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images Studios/Getty Images

Chouinard would make the playoffs in eight of his nine years with the Flames, never having a ton of success as a player or team until the 1980-81 Stanley Cup Playoffs. That year he would play in 16 games and score three times and hand out 14 assists. Overall, Chouinard would play in 514 regular season games with the Atlanta/Calgary Flames and finish that time in his career with 193 goals 336 assists. His 336 assists still ranks 6th all time in Flames history and his 193 goals are still standing in 10th place as well. And to this day his 529 points are 7th all time in franchise history ahead of players like Gary Roberts and Mark Giordano.

Chouinard would play only one season after leaving Calgary, that being with the St. Louis Blues before playing nine games in the IHL and retiring during the 1984-85 season. Guy’s post hockey life was successful as well, spending parts of 10 seasons coaching in the QMJHL and was enshrined in their Hall Of Fame in 2015. He is currently the head coach in the Quebec college hockey league with Champlain-St. Lawrence.

Other Players Having Worn #16 In Flames History

Bobby Leiter (1973-76), Jim Jackson (1983-85), Brett Hull (1986-88), Mark Lamb (1986), Sergei Priakin (1989-91), Rich Chernomaz (1992), Craig Berube (1992-2003), Mark Freer (1994), Mark Grieg (1995), Nikolai Borschevsky (1995), Cory Stillman (1996-2001), Shean Donovan (2003-2006), Jeff Friesen (2007), Mark Smith (2008), Dustin Boyd (2009-10), Tom Kostopoulos (2011-12), Brian McGrattan (2013-15), Josh Jooris (2016), Linden Vey (2017), Spencer Foo (2018), Anthony Peluso (2019), Tobias Rieder (2020)

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