Maxime Fortunus (born July 28, 1983 in La Prairie,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

) is a retired

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 ...

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 h ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

who most recently played for the

Fischtown Pinguins The Fischtown Pinguins, also known as REV Bremerhaven, are a professional ice hockey team based in Bremerhaven, Germany. From 2004 to 2016 the team played at the second level of ice hockey in Germany, until the 2012–13 season the 2nd Bundesliga ...

of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Fortunus is of Haitian descent, his parents being born in Haiti, then immigrating to Canada in the 1970s.Cooper, Mitch (2010)
"Texas Stars raise money for earthquake victims"
. ''Pro Hockey News''. February 7, 2010.

Playing career

Prior to playing in the QMJHL, Fortunus played Midget AAA hockey for the Charles Lemoyne Riverains and was a 2nd round choice of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in the 1999 QMJHL Midget Draft. Fortunus played junior ice hockey for the

Baie-Comeau Drakkar The Baie-Comeau Drakkar is a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League that plays at Centre Henry-Leonard in Baie-Comeau, Quebec, Canada. The name "Drakkar" refers to a type of longship. History The Drakkar first played in ...

of the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The ...

from

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

to 2003 before turning professional with the Louisiana IceGators of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

. Fortunus has played over 700 games in the

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 developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

for the Houston Aeros, the

Manitoba Moose The Manitoba Moose are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and a member of the American Hockey League (AHL). The team plays its home games at Canada Life Centre, the home arena of its parent club, Winnipeg Jets ...

, and the

Texas Stars The Texas Stars are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Cedar Park, Texas, near Austin, with home games at the H-E-B Center. They are owned by the National Hockey League's (NHL) Dallas Stars and are the ...

.Texas Stars (2010)
"Dallas Recalls Maxime Fortunus"
. January 9, 2010. Fortunus was signed as a free agent by the Dallas Stars of the NHL on July 3, 2008. In the 2009–10 season, he has played for both Dallas and the Stars' top affiliate team in the AHL, the Texas Stars, where he is a regular.Texas Stars (2010)
Texas Stars Roster
Retrieved Feb. 1, 2010. Fortunus signed a one-year two-way deal with the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and were founded during the 1967 NHL expansion as the Minne ...

on July 13, 2012. After six seasons within the Stars organization, serving as a mainstay veteran presence to their AHL affiliates, Fortunus signed as a free agent to a two-year AHL contract with the

Iowa Wild The Iowa Wild are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, that began play for the 2013–14 season. The team plays at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, as the AHL affiliate of the NHL's Minnesota Wild. The team was f ...

, affiliate to the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...

on July 1, 2015. At the conclusion of his contract with the Iowa, he went un-signed over the summer as a free agent. With the 2017–18 season underway, he belatedly signed a professional tryout contract with the

Springfield Thunderbirds The Springfield Thunderbirds are a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League that began play for the 2016–17 season. They are the affiliate of the National Hockey League's St. Louis Blues. Based in Springfield, M ...

on November 14, 2017. As a staple on the blueline for the Thunderbirds, Fortunus appeared in 54 games for 2 goals and 12 points. Having completed his 15th consecutive year in the AHL, Fortunus left as a free agent and signed his first contract abroad at the age of 34 on a one-year deal with German outfit, Fischtown Pinguins of the DEL, on May 7, 2018. In May 2021, Fortunus announced his retirement from professional hockey and rejoined the Dallas Stars organization as an assistant coach of the

in the

Career statistics

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fortunus, Maxime 1983 births Living people Baie-Comeau Drakkar players Black Canadian ice hockey players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Canadian people of Haitian descent Dallas Stars players Fischtown Pinguins players Haitian Quebecers Houston Aeros (1994–2013) players Ice hockey people from Quebec Iowa Wild players Louisiana IceGators (ECHL) players Manitoba Moose players People from La Prairie, Quebec Sportspeople from Montérégie Springfield Thunderbirds players Texas Stars players Undrafted National Hockey League players