Michel Riesen (born April 11, 1979) is a Swiss 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 ...

winger. Most of his career, which lasted from 1994 to 2014, was spent in the Swiss Nationalliga A, though he also played 12 games 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 ...

with 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 ...

during the 2000–01 season. Internationally Riesen played for the Swiss national team in several junior tournaments and three

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. After retiring he turned to coaching, and has worked at the junior levels in Switzerland since 2015.

Playing career

He was selected in the first round of the

1997 NHL Entry Draft The 1997 NHL Entry Draft was the 35th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on June 21, 1997. As of 2022, the only remaining active player in the NHL from the 1997 draft class is Joe Thornton. Selections ...

, 14th overall, by the

. At the time he was the highest drafted Swiss player in NHL history. Riesen was twice a member of Switzerland's World Junior team (1997, 1998) and a member of its World Championship team (1998). Riesen made his North American debut on the AHL's

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 OHL season, 2015–16 season. Based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, the Bulldogs play their home games at FirstOntario Cent ...

team in 1998–99. Riesen played three seasons in Hamilton with his best season being in 1999–00 when he registered 60 points (29G-31A). Riesen made his NHL debut in the 2000–01 season with the Oilers, playing in 12 games in what would be his only NHL season. On July 1, 2001, Riesen was traded from the Oilers, along with

Doug Weight Douglas Daniel Weight (born January 21, 1971) is an American professional ice hockey coach, executive and former player. He is also the former head coach and assistant general manager for the New York Islanders. During his 19-year National Hockey ...

, to the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the s ...

for

Marty Reasoner Martin Ernest Reasoner (born February 26, 1977) is an American former professional ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, Atlanta Thrashers and ...

Jochen Hecht Jochen Thomas Hecht (born 21 June 1977) is a German ice hockey coach and a former professional ice hockey player. He has been serving as assistant coach for Adler Mannheim since March 2022. Hecht played 833 games in the National Hockey League ( ...

and Jan Horacek. Riesen never played for the Blues, opting to head back to Switzerland for the 2001–02 season to rejoin HC Davos. In the 2006-07 season, Riesen was the top goal scorer in the NLA with 37 goals.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* 1979 births Living people Edmonton Oilers draft picks Edmonton Oilers players EHC Biel players Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) players HC Davos players National Hockey League first-round draft picks SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers players Ice hockey people from the canton of Bern Swiss ice hockey right wingers Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Canada Swiss expatriate ice hockey people Expatriate ice hockey players in Canada {{Switzerland-icehockey-bio-stub