Clutterbuck named Cudney winner
Cal Clutterbuck has scored 140 goals in the National Hockey League, played in more than 1,000 games with the Minnesota Wild and New York Islanders, and accumulated close to 4,000 hits, an NHL record.
But the truculent winger says he could not have accomplished any of that without the guidance he received in his hometown of Welland, which was critical in his development.
“There was a time in Welland minor hockey where there were great people coaching teams along the way,” Clutterbuck said from Anaheim, where the Islanders take on the Ducks this weekend. “People always say the guys from Welland are a little different. By different I mean very hard working and I think we were able to stay the course with things and play hard and really withstand a lot mentally, which is the reason I think a lot of those guys ended up playing in the NHL.
“I think the town and the people we grew up with gave us this sort of resilience, coupled with exposure and a little bit of talent. It produced some great hockey players.”
Indeed, the list of players to reach the NHL born in the Rose City is impressive — Bill Huard, Matt Johnson, Bob Laforest, Mark Laforest, Matt Ellis, Jamie Tardif, Paul Bissonnette, Dan Girardi and Dan Paille to name a few — and Clutterbuck feels that helped set the foundation for his NHL career.
“I think there was a sense that, at the very least, you could go play major junior hockey. That was the goal for most of us.”
Clutterbuck, who on Nov. 22, 2023 became the first player from Welland to play 1,000 games in the NHL, is the unanimous selection for the H.L. Cudney Memorial Award as Welland’s sportsperson of the year for 2023.
It is an honour in which he takes great pride.
“It’s really is a nice thing,” he said. “I’m very grateful to the town and everyone there for bringing me along and teaching me the lessons I obviously needed to learn. I always enjoy going back and hanging out with my family and my wife’s family and seeing people.
“It’s nice to be recognized by the town that gave me the chance and I’m proud to be able to represent the town on a sort of international stage.”
Clutterbuck’s journey to the NHL began to take serious shape at the junior B level for the Welland Cougars where he was guided by two of the most respected coaches ever to step behind a bench, Mark Forster and Chris Johnstone.
“Both of those guys were my first taste of higher level hockey coaching. There was a level of professionalism to both of those guys and I admired them and it sort of made me feel I was in a different situation,” Clutterbuck said. “It’s not minor hockey. The games mean more, people come and watch, people care.
“You had responsibilities as a player outside of just skating around and scoring goals. It was a great year for me. It really prepared me for what was to come. Those experience sent me on fast track to go into major junior and be prepared and excel.”
The Toronto St. Michael’s Majors of the Ontario Hockey League drafted Clutterbuck in the first round, 13th overall, of the 2003 OHL Priority Selection. He joined the team for the 2003–04 OHL season, but was far from an overnight sensation, scoring just four goals in his rookie campaign.
“My first year in junior didn’t go great. I was on a really good team but I didn’t get that much opportunity to play,” Clutterbuck recalled. “I can’t say I ever thought I would make it to the NHL, I wasn’t even sure I could play a whole career in the OHL the way things had gone.”
He was quick to give credit to his father, Tim Clutterbuck, for his guidance.
“There were times when my dad would come up and I would tell him I wasn’t having a good time. I had a difficult first year and my dad told me to stick with it and I didn’t but I never really thought I would make the NHL,” he said.
Clutterbuck made significant strides each season in junior and was drafted by the Minnesota Wild 72nd overall in the third round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.
“I just went into my first training camp with the attitude I had nothing to lose, which I didn’t. I was there almost the full three weeks. That gave me a sense I might be able to do this.”
The following year Clutterbuck began at the American Hockey League before making his NHL debut in 2007/08 with a pair of games. The next season he cracked the lineup full time.
“I realized I might be able to play or make a team, but 1,000 games was definitely not on the radar,” he said. “It wasn’t really the goal. I remember my rookie year Andrew Brunette played in his 1,000th game and I marvelled at it. I thought it was such a cool and amazing thing.
“I just kept putting one foot in front of the other.”
Clutterbuck’s grinding style of play has taken its toll — he has no feeling in his left hand after surgery on his wrist — but overall says he feels great at 36.
“It’s not as bad a people think,” he said. “You get bruises and stuff but I don’t wake up in the morning in pain, it’s not like I roll out of bed and I take an hour to get going. Still feeling pretty good. I’m in one piece.”
Clutterbuck has a home on Long Island he shares with his wife, Welland native Cassie DePalo, three daughters, Harper, 11; Willow, 9; Stevie, nine months and son, River, 5.
Clutterbuck admits he has thought about life after hockey, but for now is still concentrating full time on his day job.
“There have been points in the last couple of years where I wasn’t sure how it would play out, especially with this wrist and hand thing,” he said. “I think you can only go so far with that when you’re playing. When the time comes I’ll figure it out. I have lots going on day to day with four kids and the job I have now.
“I’m keeping my eyes on the prize.”
The H.L. Cudney Memorial Award will be presented at the City of Welland sports banquet on Friday, April 5, at Casa Dante.
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