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Craig Fisher

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Craig Fisher
Born (1970-06-30) June 30, 1970 (age 54)
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

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]

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 Philadelphia 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

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Regular season and playoffs

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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

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Award Year
All-CCHA Rookie Team 1988-89 [17]
All-CCHA First Team 1989-90 [18]

References

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  1. ^ "Craig Fisher named head coach of the UOIT men's hockey program". Ontario Tech Athletics.
  2. ^ http://images.ourontario.ca/Partners/Whitby/002451745p18.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  3. ^ "Mark Fisher (b.1968) Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com".
  4. ^ a b c "Craig Fisher Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com".
  5. ^ https://s3.amazonaws.com/miamiredhawks.com/documents/2021/6/9/2021_22_Miami_Hockey_Record_Book_.pdf Archived 2021-11-29 at the Wayback Machine [bare URL PDF]
  6. ^ "Craig Fisher Stats". Hockey-Reference.com.
  7. ^ "Twenty years later, memories of Calder Cup win still very much alive | SaltWire". www.saltwire.com.
  8. ^ "Cape Breton Oilers 1992-93 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com".
  9. ^ "IHL 1995-96 League Leaders at hockeydb.com".
  10. ^ Fitz-Gerald, Sean (December 4, 2015). "The coach and the concussion that won't go away". Toronto Star.
  11. ^ "Whitby Fury rally in absence of Craig Fisher". DurhamRegion.com.
  12. ^ "Whitby Fury playing without head coach". DurhamRegion.com.
  13. ^ "Craig Fisher named head coach of UOIT men's hockey program". DurhamRegion.com.
  14. ^ "Whitby's Craig Fisher forced out of coaching by lingering concussion symptoms". 4 November 2015.
  15. ^ Jones, Chris (March 23, 2017). "Changing the culture surrounding concussions in sports".
  16. ^ "Craig Fisher - Athletics Programs Advisor - Staff Directory".
  17. ^ "CCHA All-Rookie Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  18. ^ "All-CCHA Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved 2013-07-27.
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