Mike "Whopper" Lenarduzzi (born September 14, 1972) is a Canadian retired

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 ...

. He played four 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

Hartford Whalers The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut. The club played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 until 1979, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979 to ...

during 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 ...

and 1993–94 seasons. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1992 to 2000, was spent in various minor leagues.

Playing career

Born in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

, Lenarduzzi played junior hockey for the Oshawa Generals, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds,

Ottawa 67s The Ottawa 67's are a major junior ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, that plays in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Established during Canada's centennial year of 1967 and named in honour of this, the 67's currently play their ...

and Sudbury Wolves of 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 ...

before turning professional in 1992 with the

Springfield Indians The Springfield Indians were a minor professional ice hockey franchise, originally based in West Springfield, Massachusetts and later Springfield, Massachusetts. The Indians were founding members of the American Hockey League. They were in existe ...

, 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) affiliate of the Hartford Whalers. He had been drafted in the third round of the

1990 NHL Entry Draft The 1990 NHL Entry Draft was the 28th NHL Entry Draft. It was hosted by the Vancouver Canucks at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, on June 16, 1990. It is remembered as one of the deeper drafts in NHL history, with fourteen of the twenty- ...

by the Hartford Whalers. He would be in the Hartford system until 1994 - his most notable action with the system being his first regular season game for Springfield, in which he allowed eight goals on the first eleven shots he faced before being pulled - and played four games in the NHL. After 1994, he played for a number of minor league teams including the AHL Hershey Bears in 1996–97. He played one season in the Italian Hockey League for Milan in 1998–99, before finishing his career with one season with the

Baton Rouge Kingfish The Baton Rouge Kingfish were a minor professional ice hockey team in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as a member of the East Coast Hockey League. The franchise arrived in Baton Rouge in 1996 after relocating from Erie, Pennsylvania, where they had playe ...

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 ...

in 1999–00.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

External links

* 1972 births Living people Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian people of Italian descent Amarillo Rattlers players Baton Rouge Kingfish players Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Hartford Whalers draft picks Hartford Whalers players Ice hockey people from Ontario Hershey Bears players Mobile Mysticks players Ottawa 67's players Oshawa Generals players Saginaw Wheels players Salt Lake Golden Eagles (IHL) players Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds players Sportspeople from London, Ontario Springfield Indians players Sudbury Wolves players {{canada-icehockey-goaltender-stub