Career
He has also had a lengthy career as a coach in the QMJHL since retiring as a player, and is the former head coach of the Prince Edward Island Rocket. Chouinard was the 28th overall pick in the 1974 National Hockey League Entry Draft, following a successful junior career with the Quebec Remparts in which he was a regular at the age of 15. He was one of the first underage players available in the entry draft because of the National Hockey League"s decision to allow drafting of underage players that year.
While playing with the Atlanta Flames, he set records for scoring goals in six consecutive games from November 14 to November 24, 1978.
He was the first Flame to score 50 goals in a season in the 1978-1979 season. He remained with the team when it relocated to Calgary at the start of the 1980-1981 season.
He left the Flames franchise as its all-time leader in points (529) and assists (336) (records since broken) on September 6, 1983, when he was traded to the Saint Louis Blues for future considerations. After playing in the first nine games of the 1984-1985 season in the IHL with Peoria, Chouinard opted to retire.
Chouinard has also had a brilliant career (more than 10 years) coaching in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, notably for the Victoriaville Tigres, Quebec Remparts, and Prince Edward Island Rocket and was enshrined in the QMJHL Hall of Fame in 2005.
He has coached the second most games in the QMJHL (988), most wins as a coach (515) and most championships as a coach (4). From 2002 to 2006, he coached in the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey, a minor professional league in Quebec, first with the Trois-Rivieres Vikings, then the Thetford-Mines Prolab. He was fired as the Prolab head-coach on January 13, 2006, after a 7–3 loss against the Saint-Hyacinthe Cristal.
With the Prolab, his record was 45 wins and 48 loss (including 10 shootout loss and 2 losses in overtime).
Chouinard was hired by the QMJHL"s Prince Edward Island Rocket to replace Yanick Jean as head coach, on October 22, 2007. He was relieved of his duties on October 6, 2009.
Chouinard was nicknamed "Gramps" because he appeared much older than he really was.