BATON ROUGE — The Baton Rouge Zydeco announced Tuesday that the team is entering its third season with a new head coach.

A native of Quebec, Canada, Sylvain Cloutier joins the Zydeco after a more than two-decade-long playing career in professional hockey. Cloutier was a third-round pick in the 1992 NHL Draft, playing seven games with the Chicago Blackhawks during the 1998-99 season.

Over his career, he played 11 seasons in the American Hockey League, notably winning the Calder Cup with the Houston Aeros in 2002-2003. He also spent additional seasons in the United Hockey League before he finished his playing career in the 2013-2014 season with the Hull Stingrays in the UK’s Elite Ice Hockey League.

Cloutier’s coaching career began in 2008 with the Corpus Christi team in the Central Hockey League, later serving as player-coach for the Stingrays from 2009 to 2014 in the EIHL.

Cloutier was most recently the head coach and general manager of the Corpus Christi IceRays in the North American Hockey League, leading his team to the South Division Finals this past season before falling short to the defending champions the Lone Star Brahmas.

"The Federal Prospects Hockey League requires a coach capable of recruiting from diverse sources, and from our very first conversation, Cloutier emerged as the top candidate. Sylvain will be a true leader for our organization, bringing the leadership qualities the team needs. His reputation alone will earn the respect of our players even before he steps into the locker room. We are excited about a very successful season ahead with Cloutier as our new head coach," Team President Don Lewis said.

Team Owner Chris Bryniarski shared the president's sentiment, saying that they "hold the utmost respect for him, as he comes highly recommended by many in the hockey community."

"We firmly believe that we’ve found the right person to build a winning and exciting team on the ice. We are fortunate to have someone of Sylvain’s caliber leading our organization," Bryniarski said.

Cloutier began his tenure by re-signing players from last year while also laying the groundwork with new additions. The Zydeco signed Dmitry Kuznetsov, Elijah Wilson, Tyler Larwood, Jake Cox and Scott Shorrock at the same news conference where Cloutier was announced.

The Zydeco's first two games are Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, with all Monday through Saturday games starting at 7:05 p.m., and Sunday games starting at 3:05 p.m.

"We’re also excited to share that this season’s Mardi Gras Break has been shortened to just 7 weeks," Zydeco management said.