Mark Visentin (born August 7, 1992) is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
former professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
goaltender
In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...
. He was selected in the first round, 27th overall, by the
Phoenix Coyotes
The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...
in the
2010 NHL Entry Draft
The 2010 NHL Entry Draft was the 48th NHL Entry Draft, held on June 25–26, 2010 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, home arena of the Los Angeles Kings. This was the first time Los Angeles hosted the NHL Entry Draft. An unofficial re ...
.
Visentin represented
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
at the
2011 World Junior Championships, starting four games in the tournament, and during the
2012 World Junior Championships, starting Canada's opening game against
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
.
Playing career
Minor
Visentin played
minor ice hockey
Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from cla ...
with the Halton Hurricanes, winning a provincial PeeWee AAA championship in 2002–03.
He played in the 2005
Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament
The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...
with Halton. He was selected by the
Niagara IceDogs
The Niagara IceDogs are a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League based in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. The franchise was originally known as the Mississauga IceDogs and founded in 1996. The team was relocated to St. Cathar ...
in the third round, 54th overall, of the 2008
Ontario Hockey League
The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...
(OHL) Priority Selection.
Junior
Visentin made his OHL debut for the IceDogs during the
2008–09 season. He played in 23 games, winning five.
In the
2009–10 season, Visentin saw increased playing time, appearing in 55 games and winning 24.
After the season, Visentin was ranked fourth among North American goalies by the
NHL Central Scouting Bureau The NHL Central Scouting Services (CSS) is a department within the National Hockey League that ranks prospects for the NHL Entry Draft at specific times during the hockey season. Players are ranked based on how well they will translate to the profe ...
.
He was then drafted by the
Phoenix Coyotes
The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...
in the first round, 27th overall, of the
2010 NHL Entry Draft
The 2010 NHL Entry Draft was the 48th NHL Entry Draft, held on June 25–26, 2010 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, home arena of the Los Angeles Kings. This was the first time Los Angeles hosted the NHL Entry Draft. An unofficial re ...
.
Professional
At the tail end of the
2013–14 season, Visentin was recalled from Phoenix's
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...
(AHL) affiliate, the
Portland Pirates
The Portland Pirates were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). Their home arena was the Cross Insurance Arena in downtown Portland, Maine. The franchise was previously known as the Baltimore Skipjacks fr ...
, and on April 12, 2014, he made his NHL debut in net with the Coyotes in a 3–2 defeat to the
San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertainm ...
.
During the Coyotes 2014 training camp, Visentin suffered an ankle injury which ended up leading to season ending surgery. Due to the nature of the surgery, Visentin did not partake in a single game during the 2014-2015 season.
Following the 2014-15 season, the Coyotes elected not to give Visentin a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent. On July 8, 2015, Visentin signed a one-year contract with the
Rockford IceHogs
The Rockford IceHogs are a professional ice hockey team based in Rockford, Illinois. They are members of the American Hockey League (AHL), having begun play in the League starting in the 2007–08 season. The team plays their home games at the ...
, the AHL affiliate of the
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...
. In the
2015–16 season, Visentin appeared in only 13 games with 4 wins, before his season was cut short due another ankle injury which required season ending surgery.
As a free agent in the off-season, Visentin remained in the AHL despite leaving the IceHogs, agreeing to a one-year deal with the
Milwaukee Admirals
The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Panther Arena. They are affiliated with the NHL's Nashvil ...
, an affiliate to the
Nashville Predators
The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...
on August 1, 2016. The deal reacquainted Visentin and Ben Vanderklok (Ben served as Visentin's goaltending coach for all four years while playing in Niagara). He appeared in just one game with the Admirals in the
2016–17 season, primarily playing in the ECHL with affiliate, the
Cincinnati Cyclones
The Cincinnati Cyclones are a professional ice hockey team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The team is a member of the ECHL. Originally established in 1990, the team first played their games in the Cincinnati Gardens and now play at Heritage Bank Cen ...
, in winning 10 contests in 26 games.
Visentin opted to pursue European opportunities for the 2017-2018 season, agreeing to a one-year deal with Hungarian club
Alba Volán Székesfehérvár
''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed into the Kingdom ...
of the
Erste Bank Eishockey Liga
The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League), known as the win2day ICE Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, is a Central European hockey league that also serves as the top-tier ice hockey league in Austria, it currently f ...
(EBEL) on May 17, 2017. Visentin's contract with Székesfehérvár was terminated due to an injury on October 3, 2017 after appearing in only one game.
On October 2, 2018, Visentin announced his retirement from professional hockey via
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
.
International play
Visentin's first experience with
Hockey Canada
Hockey Canada (which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994) is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority ...
resulted in a gold medal with Team Ontario at the 2009
World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.
During the summer of 2010, Visentin spent time in the summer at
Team Canada's summer development camp, as well as Hockey Canada's goaltender camp.
Visentin was named to Canada's roster for the
2011 World Junior Championships.
Olivier Roy was Canada's starting goaltender for most of the tournament, but Visentin replaced him after Canada's loss to
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. Visentin started in Canada's wins against
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
in the quarterfinals, and against the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in the semi-finals, for which he was named Canada's Player of the Game.
These performances secured his spot as Canada's starting goaltender in the gold medal game against
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
.
But in the final, Visentin conceded five goals in the third period as Russia came from behind to win 5–3. After the game, Visentin struggled to explain what had happened: "There's really no words to describe it."
Personal life
Growing up in the community of
Waterdown
Waterdown was a hardcore punk and post-hardcore band from Osnabrück, Germany. The band emerged onto the scene in 1999 under the formation of: Axel Pralat (guitar), Marcel Bischoff (vocals), Jörg Schwoeppe (drums), Christian Kruse (bass), Holger ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Visentin's favourite hockey team was the
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...
, and his favourite player was
Carey Price
Carey Price (born August 16, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is considered to be one of the best goaltenders in the world by many colleagues, fans, ''The ...
.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Awards and honours
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Visentin, Mark
1992 births
Arizona Coyotes draft picks
Canadian ice hockey goaltenders
Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL) players
Gwinnett Gladiators players
Ice hockey people from Ontario
Living people
Milwaukee Admirals players
National Hockey League first-round draft picks
Niagara IceDogs players
Phoenix Coyotes players
Portland Pirates players
Rockford IceHogs (AHL) players
Sportspeople from Hamilton, Ontario