Craig Fisher
Craig Fisher (born June 30, 1970) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who currently works in the athletic administration for Ontario Tech University (UOIT), having previously served as the head coach of the UOIT hockey team.[1]
| Craig Fisher | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born | June 30, 1970 Oshawa, Ontario, Canada | ||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) | ||
| Weight | 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb) | ||
| Position | Left Wing | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for | Philadelphia Flyers Winnipeg Jets Florida Panthers | ||
| NHL draft | 56th overall, 1988 Philadelphia Flyers | ||
| Playing career | 1990–1999 | ||
Fisher grew up in Whitby, Ontario, where he and brother Mark played junior hockey. Mark and Craig both played for the Oshawa Legionaires of the Ontario Junior Hockey League. Mark would go on to play for McGill University, while Craig played US college hockey at Miami University.[2][3][4]
Craig thrived at Miami, with 42 points (22 goals, 20 assists) in his 1988-89 freshman season, earning First-Team All-Rookie Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) honors, and then producing 66 points (37 goals, 29 assists) in his sophomore season, named to the First-Team All-CCHA Team for 1989-90.[5] Fisher had been drafted 56th overall in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers and turned pro at the end of the 1989-90 collegiate season. Fisher finished the season with Miami on March 3, 1990 and made his NHL debut with Philiadelphia some three weeks later, on March 27.[4][6]
A prolific scorer, Fisher played 12 NHL games with the Flyers, Winnipeg Jets, and Florida Panthers, but spent much of his career playing for various American Hockey League (AHL) and International Hockey League (IHL) teams. Fisher was part of the AHL championship Cape Breton Oilers, winning the Calder Cup in 1993.[7][8] He then led the IHL in goals scored (74) in 1995-96 while playing for the Orlando Solar Bears.[9]
In 1999, while playing for the Rochester Americans, Fisher suffered a violent collision, knocked unconscious and hitting his head on the ice. His playing career would come to an end as a result of this traumatic brain injury.[10] Fisher would move into coaching, eventually becoming the head coach for the Whitby Fury, leading the team to a 31-19 (.609) record in 2012-13 and a 35-14 (.698) season in 2013-14.[4] He suffered another concussion behind the bench with Whitby in 2013, missing extensive time with the team as a result.[11][12] Having previously served at Ontario Tech as an assistant coach, Fisher was named as the head coach of the Ridgebacks in 2014,[13] but was forced to resign shortly afterwards due to ongoing concussion symptoms.[14]
Fisher lives in Whitby with his family and works for Ontario Tech as an athletic advisor, working to raise awareness of concussions in hockey and counseling athletes in dealing with concussion and TBI symptoms.[15][16]
Career statistics edit
Regular season and playoffs edit
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1986–87 | Oshawa Legionaires | MJBHL | 34 | 22 | 26 | 48 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1987–88 | Oshawa Legionaires | MJBHL | 36 | 42 | 34 | 76 | 48 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1988–89 | Miami University | CCHA | 37 | 22 | 20 | 42 | 37 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1989–90 | Miami University | CCHA | 39 | 37 | 29 | 66 | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1989–90 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1990–91 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1990–91 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 77 | 43 | 36 | 79 | 46 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 2 | ||
| 1991–92 | Cape Breton Oilers | AHL | 60 | 20 | 25 | 45 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1992–93 | Cape Breton Oilers | AHL | 75 | 32 | 29 | 61 | 74 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1993–94 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993–94 | Cape Breton Oilers | AHL | 16 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993–94 | Moncton Hawks | AHL | 46 | 26 | 35 | 61 | 36 | 21 | 11 | 11 | 22 | 28 | ||
| 1994–95 | Indianapolis Ice | IHL | 77 | 53 | 40 | 93 | 65 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | Orlando Solar Bears | IHL | 82 | 74 | 56 | 130 | 81 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 6 | ||
| 1996–97 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | Utah Grizzlies | IHL | 15 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | Carolina Monarchs | AHL | 42 | 33 | 29 | 62 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | Kölner Haie | DEL | 35 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 70 | 29 | 52 | 81 | 28 | 20 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 10 | ||
| 1999–00 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 17 | 15 | 8 | 23 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| AHL totals | 403 | 203 | 219 | 422 | 247 | 50 | 25 | 25 | 50 | 42 | ||||
| NHL totals | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
Awards and honours edit
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| All-CCHA Rookie Team | 1988-89 | [17] |
| All-CCHA First Team | 1989-90 | [18] |
References edit
- ^ "Craig Fisher named head coach of the UOIT men's hockey program". Ontario Tech Athletics.
- ^ http://images.ourontario.ca/Partners/Whitby/002451745p18.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ "Mark Fisher (b.1968) Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com".
- ^ a b c "Craig Fisher Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com".
- ^ https://s3.amazonaws.com/miamiredhawks.com/documents/2021/6/9/2021_22_Miami_Hockey_Record_Book_.pdf 2021-11-29 at the Wayback Machine [bare URL PDF]
- ^ "Craig Fisher Stats". Hockey-Reference.com.
- ^ "Twenty years later, memories of Calder Cup win still very much alive | SaltWire". www.saltwire.com.
- ^ "Cape Breton Oilers 1992-93 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com".
- ^ "IHL 1995-96 League Leaders at hockeydb.com".
- ^ Fitz-Gerald, Sean (December 4, 2015). "The coach and the concussion that won't go away". Toronto Star.
- ^ "Whitby Fury rally in absence of Craig Fisher". DurhamRegion.com.
- ^ "Whitby Fury playing without head coach". DurhamRegion.com.
- ^ "Craig Fisher named head coach of UOIT men's hockey program". DurhamRegion.com.
- ^ "Whitby's Craig Fisher forced out of coaching by lingering concussion symptoms". 4 November 2015.
- ^ Jones, Chris (March 23, 2017). "Changing the culture surrounding concussions in sports".
- ^ "Craig Fisher - Athletics Programs Advisor - Staff Directory".
- ^ "CCHA All-Rookie Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
- ^ "All-CCHA Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved 2013-07-27.
External links edit
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database