Michael Bishai (born May 30, 1979) 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 ...

centre. Bishai was never drafted, but played 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 ...

Playing career

Amateur

Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Bishai moved to British Columbia to play junior hockey. Bishai played two seasons with the

South Surrey Eagles The Surrey Eagles are a junior "A" ice hockey team based in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Mainland Division of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). They play their home games at South Surrey Arena. History New ...

in the BCHL, before moving on to

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

, where he played four seasons. In 2001, Bishai led the

Central Collegiate Hockey Association The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) is a college athletic conference that participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. The current CCHA began play in the 2021–22 season; a previous incarnation, which the curre ...

in points, and led the NCAA in points per game. At the tale end of the 2001–02 season, Bishai signed with Edmonton and was assigned to their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Roadrunners.

Professional

Bishai played most of his Oiler career with affiliates in the AHL, but in the 2003–04 season, he made his NHL debut and played 14 games with the Oilers. Bishai signed with 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 ...

organization prior to the 2005–06 season and was assigned to its AHL affiliate, the

San Antonio Rampage The San Antonio Rampage were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League based in San Antonio, Texas. The Rampage was primarily owned by Spurs Sports & Entertainment throughout the team's existence. In 2020, the franchise was sold ...

. Bishai then joined Moscow Dynamo for the 2006–07 season. After playing in only 23 games with Moscow, Bishai left for the Finnish SM-l where he signed with

Ilves Tampere Ilves (; Finnish for " Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Tampere Deck Arena. The colors of Ilves, green, yellow, and black, were taken from what was then the coat of arms of the cit ...

for the 2007–08 season. After a successful season with Ilves, Mike then signed with rival team Jokerit for the 2008–09 season. Bishai is most remembered for a fight with

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 seaso ...

player Serge Aubin on February 11, 2004. The fight, during a line brawl, was notable because Aubin tossed Bishai into the Atlanta bench. Bishai got to his feet and continued to trade punches with Aubin, while stunned Thrashers looked on unsure what to do. Oilers coach Craig MacTavish commented on the fight and said, "...As many years as I've been in the game, I've never seen a guy fighting standing up in the opposition's bench...That's like diving into somebody else's foxhole."

Career statistics

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bishai, Mike 1979 births Living people Canadian ice hockey centres Columbus Cottonmouths (ECHL) players Edmonton Oilers players Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) players HC Dynamo Moscow players Sportspeople from Edmonton Ilves players Jokerit players Lausanne HC players San Antonio Rampage players SC Bietigheim-Bissingen players Toronto Roadrunners players Undrafted National Hockey League players Western Michigan Broncos men's ice hockey players Ice hockey people from Alberta Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Russia Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans