Michael Fountain (born January 26, 1972) 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 ...

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 ...

who 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 ...

(NHL) with the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ...

, and

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

. He also played several seasons 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 ...

(AHL), as well as in the

Russian Superleague The Russian Superleague (russian: Чемпионат России Суперлига, ''Russian Championship Superleague''), commonly abbreviated as RSL, was the highest division of the main professional ice hockey league in Russia. It was consi ...

. Since retiring as a player, he currently is Assistant Coach for the Team Canada Para Hockey Team.

Playing career

Michael Fountain grew up in the small town of Gravenhurst, Ontario. As a 15-year-old Michael Fountain played Jr.C. hockey for the Hunstville Blair McCanns in 1988-89. He was named rookie of the year and made the All Star Team. Michael Fountain was drafted in the 15th round of the 1989 OHL Draft by the S.S. Marie Greyhounds. After being drafted by the Greyhounds, he was assigned to the Chatham Micmacs Jr.B. hockey club in 1989-90 where he was teammates with future NHL players Todd Warriner and Brian Wiseman. The Micmacs won the Western JR B Championship Michael Fountain played two seasons of junior hockey 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 ...

with the Oshawa Generals and was named to the OHL First All-Star team in 1992. He was also one of the netminders for Canada at that year's World Junior Championships. Following his junior success, Fountain was selected 45th overall in the

1992 NHL Entry Draft The 1992 NHL Entry Draft was the 30th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 20 at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec. A total of 264 players were drafted. The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Sergei Gonchar, who ret ...

by the

. Michael Fountain turned pro for the

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

season, and was assigned to the

Hamilton Canucks The Hamilton Canucks were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They played in Hamilton, Ontario, at Copps Coliseum. They were the AHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). The tea ...

of the

. He played for the Syracuse Crunch from 94-97 with a GA of 3.2. http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=1754 He established himself as one of the top goalies outside of the NHL with a standout 1993–94 campaign, during which he led the AHL with 70 appearances, 34 wins, and 4 shutouts, and was named to the league's Second All-Star Team. However, cracking the NHL would be difficult for Michael Fountain. Just as it appeared he was ready to succeed

Kay Whitmore Kay Whitmore, Jr. (born April 10, 1967) is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender. He played for the Hartford Whalers, Vancouver Canucks, Boston Bruins, and Calgary Flames during his career, as well as several teams in the minor American ...

as the backup to

Kirk McLean Kirk Alan McLean (born June 26, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New Jersey Devils, Vancouver Canucks, Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers and New York Ran ...

with the Canucks, the team acquired highly rated Corey Hirsch, who passed Michael Fountain on the depth chart and was promoted directly to the NHL. Michael Fountain proceeded to toil for two more seasons in the AHL without getting an NHL opportunity. He was finally able to make his NHL debut midway through the 1996–97 season, and did so in memorable style. He became the 19th goalie in NHL history to record a shutout in their first NHL game, doing so against the New Jersey Devils, and nearly scored a goal as well, sending the puck just a few feet wide of the empty net late in the game. He finished the year with a 2–2–0 record and a 3.43 GAA in 6 appearances. Michael Fountain left Vancouver to sign as a free agent with the

for the 1997–98. He signed with the

in 1999 and spent two seasons with the organization as their third goaltender, appearing in one NHL game in both years while performing well in the IHL and setting standards no Griffins goalie has attained since. He was named an IHL All Star in 2000/2001 season. In 2001, Michael Fountain left North America to sign in the

Russian Super League Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries * Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and pe ...

with

HC Lada Togliatti HC Lada Togliatti (russian: ХК Лада) is a Russian professional ice hockey team based in Tolyatti, Russia. They play in the Supreme Hockey League (VHL). Due to a lack of a satisfactory arena, the KHL expelled the team. The team dropped one ...

and led the RHL in GAA in his first season. He also set the all time Russian shutout record with 14 shutouts in 43 starts. After two years in Russia, he signed in Germany for 2003–04 with the Iserlohn Roosters. He returned to Russia in 2005, playing for

Traktor Chelyabinsk Traktor Chelyabinsk, also known as Traktor (russian: Трактор), is a professional ice hockey team based in Chelyabinsk, Russia. They are members of the Kharlamov Division of the Eastern Conference of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). ...

, where he won the Russian Championship and was named MVP before re-joining Lada Togliatti in 2006. Michael Fountain has appeared in 11 NHL games, posting a 2–6–0 record with a 3.47 GAA.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fountain, Mike 1972 births Beast of New Haven players Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Carolina Hurricanes players Grand Rapids Griffins players Hamilton Canucks players HC Lada Togliatti players Iserlohn Roosters players Living people Motor City Mechanics players Oshawa Generals players Ottawa Senators players People from Gravenhurst, Ontario Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds players Sportspeople from North York Ice hockey people from Toronto Syracuse Crunch players Vancouver Canucks draft picks Vancouver Canucks players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Russia