Michael Henrich (born March 4, 1980) is a Canadian 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 h ...

player. An NHL first-round draft pick of the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, Henrich played several years of professional hockey in North America before moving to professional hockey in Europe. Henrich is the first Jewish player to be selected in the first round of the

NHL Entry Draft The NHL Entry Draft (french: Repêchage d'entrée dans la LNH) is an annual meeting in which every franchise of the National Hockey League (NHL) systematically select the rights to available ice hockey players who meet draft eligibility requirem ...

, and the only player taken in the first round of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft who did not play a regular season game in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

. Henrich's younger brother Adam Henrich was also a former professional hockey player for the

Coventry Blaze Coventry Blaze are an ice hockey team based in Coventry, England. They currently compete in the British Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) and play their home games at SkyDome Arena. The club was founded in 1965 as the ''Solihull Barons'' and ren ...

Personal life

Henrich, who is Jewish, is from

Thornhill, Ontario Thornhill is a suburban district in the Regional Municipality of York in Ontario, Canada, split between the City of Vaughan (its western portion) and the City of Markham (its eastern portion), with Yonge Street forming the municipal boundary. T ...

Playing career

Junior

Michael Henrich had a standout junior career with the Barrie Colts from 1996 to 2000 in the

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 overa ...

. Barrie drafted him 5th overall in the 1996

priority selection draft out of the Metro Toronto Hockey Leagues Midget

Wexford Raiders The Toronto Jr. Canadiens are a Junior "A" ice hockey team based in the Downsview neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They were known as the Wexford Raiders until the end of the 2005–06 season and are a part of Ontario Junior Hockey Le ...

. In 1997 he was selected to the

all-star game, was voted MVP for Team Orr at the

CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game The CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game is an annual event in which forty of the top NHL Entry Draft eligible prospects in the Canadian Hockey League play against each other in an all-star game environment. Players are able to boost their draft ranking w ...

and was voted by the

eastern conference coaches poll as best shot, hardest shot and most dangerous in the goal area. In 1999–2000 he was an assistant captain of the

champion Barrie Colts. Barrie competed in the 2000

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...

in Halifax finishing runner-up.

1998 NHL Draft and North American Hockey

Prior to the 1998 NHL Entry Draft in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, Henrich was rated high by the NHL's Central Scouting Service who ranked him 3rd in their initial rankings amongst North American skaters, and by many sportswriters, including USA Today's Phil Colvin, who had him ranked as the third best prospect in the draft behind

David Legwand David A. Legwand (born August 17, 1980) is an American former professional ice hockey forward who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was the first player ever drafted by the Nashville Predators, with whom he spent 12 full ...

and

Vincent Lecavalier Vincent "Vinny" Lecavalier (born April 21, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who is currently a special advisor to hockey operations for the Montreal Canadiens. Lecavalier, played seventeen seasons in the National Hockey ...

. Henrich was ultimately selected 13th overall by the

. He was selected ahead of eight future NHL All-Stars including Simon Gagne (22nd overall),

Scott Gomez Scott Carlos Gomez (born December 23, 1979) is an American professional ice hockey coach and former player. He was the assistant coach for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). Gomez had previously played in the NHL with t ...

(27th overall),

Brad Richards Bradley Glen Richards (born May 2, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. Richards was drafted in the third round, 64th overall, by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft and played for the Lightning, New York R ...

(64th overall), and Pavel Datsyuk (171st overall). As a result of Henrich not playing a regular season NHL game, coupled with the large number of NHL all-stars drafted after him, many sportswriters and networks cite him as an example of a

draft bust A draft is a process used in some countries (especially in North America) and sports (especially in closed leagues) to allocate certain players to teams. In a draft, teams take turns selecting from a pool of eligible players. When a team sele ...

, with

NHL.com The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

columnist and hockey author John Kreiser even listing Henrich as one of Edmonton's all-time biggest draft disappointments alongside

Jason Bonsignore Jason M. Bonsignore (born April 15, 1976) is an American former professional ice hockey forward and speedway promoter and racer. Early life Bonsignore was born in Rochester, New York. As a youth, Bonsignore played in the 1990 Quebec Internation ...

and Scott Allison. His professional career in North America lasted four seasons in which he played a total of 9 preseason games for the

scoring 1 goal and 1 assist. He also played 219 games for the

Hamilton Bulldogs The Hamilton Bulldogs are a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League that began to play in the 2015–16 season. Based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, the Bulldogs play their home games at FirstOntario Centre. They were purcha ...

Toronto Roadrunners The Toronto Roadrunners were an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at the Ricoh Coliseum. In their only season the Roadrunners featured players such as Jani Rita, Brad Winchester, Jamie Wright a ...

and

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg. The current Bears club has played in the American Hockey League since the 1938–39 season maki ...

of 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 ...

and 6 games with the

Tallahassee Tiger Sharks The Tallahassee Tiger Sharks were a minor league professional ice hockey team that played in Tallahassee, Florida, from 1994 to 2001 as members of the East Coast Hockey League. The Tiger Sharks home rink was the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Cente ...

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 ...

International

In 1996–97 Henrich competed for Team Ontario at the

World U-17 Hockey Challenge The World U-17 Hockey Challenge, originally known as the Quebec Esso Cup, is an international ice hockey tournament held annually in Canada. Prior to 2011, the tournament did not operate during years in which the Canada Winter Games were held. ...

in Red Deer, Alberta where Team Ontario won the gold medal. He was selected to the Canada men's national junior ice hockey team selection camp in 1998 and 1999. He represented Canada men's national ice hockey team at the

Deutschland Cup The Deutschland Cup is an in-season international ice hockey tournament hosted by the German Ice Hockey Federation which has been contested in most years since 1987. Early years (1987–1997) In 1987, the German Ice Hockey Federation created the ...

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 2002 where

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 ...

finished as champion. In 2003, he represented Canada men's national ice hockey team at the

Sweden Hockey Games The Beijer Hockey Games (BHG, formerly known as Sweden Hockey Games) is an annual ice hockey tournament held in Sweden and part of the Euro Hockey Tour. It was cancelled after the 2013–14 season. However, on 19 January 2016, the Swedish Ice Hock ...

in Stockholm, Sweden, where

placed third. Henrich played hockey for Team Canada at the age of 17 at the

1997 Maccabiah Games The 15th Maccabiah Games are remembered for being marred by a bridge collapse that killed several participants. The Maccabiah had more than 5,000 athletes from 33 countries competing in 36 sports. New sports for the Games included beach volleyba ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

where the team won a gold medal.

Europe

Henrich played in the

HockeyAllsvenskan HockeyAllsvenskan (previously Allsvenskan and SuperAllsvenskan) is a professional ice hockey league, and the second-highest league in the Swedish ice hockey system (after the SHL). Since the 2009–10 season, the league consists of fourteen team ...

for

Mora IK Mora IK (or Mora Ishockeyklubb) is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Mora in northern Dalarna. After failing the 2019 SHL qualifiers, Mora has been relegated for play in the second-tier league, HockeyAllsvenskan. Mora has previously ...

in 2002. He spent the 2004–05 NHL lockout with the

Austrian National League The Austrian National League (german: Österreichische Eishockey-Nationalliga) was a former second tier ice hockey league in Austria. For the 2012–13 season, it was replaced by the Inter-National League. Decline With the conclusion of the 20 ...

team

EK Zell am See EK or Ek may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Ek Commando Knife Co., US knife manufacturer * Eastern Kentucky Railway (with reporting mark EK), now-defunct railway * Eastman Kodak (formerly with NYSE ticker symbol EK), US-based photogra ...

and won the league championship. In 2005, he played for the

Füchse Duisburg The ''Füchse Duisburg'' are a German 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 h ...

of the

DEL Del, or nabla, is an operator used in mathematics (particularly in vector calculus) as a vector differential operator, usually represented by the nabla symbol ∇. When applied to a function defined on a one-dimensional domain, it denotes ...

. In 2006, he played for the

Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg Grizzlys Wolfsburg are a professional ice hockey club of the German professional ice hockey league Deutsche Eishockey Liga. They play their games at Eisarena in Wolfsburg. History Wolfsburg earned their first promotion to the DEL in 2004. Howev ...

of the 2nd Bundesliga and won the league championship. In 2008 he signed with Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio club

HC Asiago Asiago Hockey 1935 is an Italian ice hockey team from Asiago which plays in the ICE Hockey League. Until 2021–22, Asiago played in the Italian Hockey League - Serie A, winning the championship eight times. Honours ;Domestic *Italian Hockey Leag ...

and won the league championship. He was a member of

Dornbirner EC Dornbirn Bulldogs is a professional ice hockey team in Dornbirn, Vorarlberg, Austria, who formerly played in the Austrian Hockey League (IceHL), the first level of ice hockey in Austria, since 2012. until 2022. The club was founded in 1992 and ...

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 ...

in 2012 and finished his career in 2014 with the

of the

Elite Ice Hockey League The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to as the British Elite League or, for sponsorship reasons, the Viaplay Elite League, is an ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey ...

Career statistics

References

External links

*
Michael Henrich Serie A Profile

Oilers: Q&A with Michael Henrich
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henrich, Michael 1980 births Asiago Hockey 1935 players Barrie Colts players Canadian ice hockey right wingers Jewish Canadian sportspeople Coventry Blaze players Dornbirn Bulldogs players Edmonton Oilers draft picks Grizzlys Wolfsburg players Füchse Duisburg players Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) players Hershey Bears players Ice hockey people from Ontario Jewish ice hockey players Living people Maccabiah Games competitors by sport Maccabiah Games competitors for Canada Mora IK players National Hockey League first-round draft picks Tallahassee Tiger Sharks players Toronto Roadrunners players Competitors at the 1997 Maccabiah Games Sportspeople from Toronto EK Zell am See players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden

Personal life

Playing career

Junior

1998 NHL Draft and North American Hockey

International

Europe

Career statistics

See also

References

External links