Michel Ouellet

Michel Ouellet (born March 5, 1982) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played as a right winger in the National Hockey League (NHL). Ouellet was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the fourth round, 124th overall, of the 2000 NHL entry draft.

He was drafted out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) by the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL) in 2000. He was named to the American Hockey League (AHL) All-Rookie Team with the Penguins' minor league affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in 2004. He has also played in the NHL with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Vancouver Canucks.

Playing career As a youth, Ouellet played in the 1996 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Rimouski Océanic minor ice hockey team. He later played for Rimouski Océanic in the QMJHL before being drafted 124th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2000 NHL entry draft. He spent his first few years out of junior in the minor leagues and was named to the American Hockey League (AHL) All-Rookie Team with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in 2004.

After a career-high 19 goals, 29 assists and 48 points, in 2006–07, he was not tendered a qualifying offer by the Penguins and Ouellet subsequently signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning. On December 14, 2007, he separated his left shoulder after a check from Calgary Flames defenceman Robyn Regehr and missed 18 games. He finished the season with 36 points in 64 games.

On September 29, 2008, Ouellet was placed on waivers due to a salary cutting effort by the Lightning. He cleared waivers and on October 6, he was traded along with Shane O'Brien to the Vancouver Canucks for Lukáš Krajíček and Juraj Šimek. He was immediately assigned to the Manitoba Moose of the AHL, but was recalled by the Canucks on November 3. He was returned to the Moose on November 10, 2008, where he completed the season with 40 points in 46 games.

Ouellet became an unrestricted free agent in the 2009 off-season, but went unsigned by an NHL club. He went overseas to Switzerland to play for Fribourg-Gottéron of the National League A. On December 21, 2009, Ouellet was named to Team Canada for the 2009 Spengler Cup. Canada finished in third place. After a half year Ouellet left Switzerland and signed with German club Hamburg Freezers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.

On July 1, 2011, Ouellet rejoined the Tampa Bay Lightning organization when they signed him as a free agent to a one-year, two-way contract. During the 2011–12 season, Ouellet failed to add to his NHL experience, however was assigned to the record achieving affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals contributing to their Calder Cup success. Prior to free agency on June 23, 2012, Ouellet was traded by the Lightning to the Boston Bruins, along with a fifth-round draft pick, for Benoit Pouliot.

Released as a free agent by the Bruins, Ouellet accepted a try-out to the Hamilton Bulldogs training camp for the 2012–13 season on September 26, 2012. He was subsequently released upon completion of camp, due to the high number of players already under contract in the Bulldogs' camp.

After several months of free agency, Ouellet was offered a one-year contract with the Thetford Mines Isothermic of the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey (LNAH) on December 21, 2012. He finished out his playing career after two seasons in the LNAH.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1998–99 Jonquière Élites QMAAA 33 20 32 52 52 — — — — — 1998–99 Rimouski Océanic QMJHL 28 7 13 20 10 11 0 1 1 6 1999–2000 Rimouski Océanic QMJHL 72 36 53 89 38 14 4 5 9 14 2000–01 Rimouski Océanic QMJHL 63 42 50 92 50 11 6 7 13 8 2001–02 Rimouski Océanic QMJHL 61 40 58 98 66 7 3 6 9 4 2002–03 Wheeling Nailers ECHL 55 20 26 46 40 — — — — — 2002–03 Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 4 0 2 2 0 — — — — — 2003–04 Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 79 30 19 49 34 22 2 10 12 0 2004–05 Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 80 31 32 63 56 11 2 3 5 6 2005–06 Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 19 10 20 30 12 — — — — — 2005–06 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 50 16 16 32 16 — — — — — 2006–07 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 73 19 29 48 30 5 0 2 2 6 2007–08 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 64 17 19 36 12 — — — — — 2008–09 Manitoba Moose AHL 46 13 27 40 30 — — — — — 2008–09 Vancouver Canucks NHL 3 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2009–10 Fribourg-Gottéron NLA 11 1 4 5 4 5 1 1 2 4 2010–11 Hamburg Freezers DEL 39 11 17 28 24 — — — — — 2011–12 Norfolk Admirals AHL 55 16 15 31 41 14 1 3 4 6 2012–13 Thetford Mines Isothermic LNAH 24 19 22 41 2 5 3 2 5 0 2013–14 Thetford Mines Isothermic LNAH 37 18 39 57 8 17 9 15 24 16 AHL totals 283 100 115 215 173 47 5 16 21 12 NHL totals 190 52 64 116 58 5 0 2 2 6

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2010 Team Canada SC 2 0 0 0 0 Senior totals 2 0 0 0 0

Awards and honours Award Year RefCHL President's Cup champion 2000 Memorial Cup champion 2000 AHL All-Rookie Team 2004 All-Star Game 2005 Calder Cup champion 2012 LNAH Most Gentlemanly Player 2013