Vince Bellissimo (born December 14, 1982) 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 ...

player. Bellissimo was selected by the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

in the 5th round (158th overall) of the

2002 NHL Entry Draft __NOTOC__ The 2002 NHL Entry Draft was the 40th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 22 and 23, 2002 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario. Two hundred and ninety-one players were drafted in total: 35 from the Ontario Hockey League (OHL); ...

Playing career

Bellissimo, brother of

Daniel Bellissimo Daniel Bellissimo (born August 15, 1984) is a Canadian-born Italian retired professional ice hockey goaltender. He last played with Luleå HF of the Swedish Elitserien. Is active GM of Streetsville in the SOHL. Born in Toronto, Bellissimo ...

, played NCAA college hockey with the

Western Michigan Broncos men's ice hockey The Western Michigan Broncos men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (NCAA), Division I college ice hockey program that represents Western Michigan University. The Broncos are a member of the National ...

team before beginning his professional career 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 Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

with 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 ...

near the end of the

2004–05 AHL season The 2004–05 AHL season was the 69th season of the American Hockey League. Twenty-eight teams played 80 games each in the schedule. The Rochester Americans finished first overall in the regular season. The Philadelphia Phantoms won the Calder Cu ...

. In 2007, after three seasons of playing in the North American minor leagues, Bellissimo arrived in Europe to play in the

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called "PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga") (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a German professional ice hockey league and the highest division in German ice hockey. Founded in ...

(DEL) with the

ERC Ingolstadt ERC Ingolstadt (''Eishockey-und-Rollschuh club'', ) is a German professional ice hockey club that plays in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Commonly known as the Panthers, the team plays its home games at the Saturn Arena in Ingolstadt. History ...

. In 2009, after two brief experiences in

SM-liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, he returned to Ingolstadt. During the 2009-10 season, Bellissimo arrived at

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 Leagu ...

where his brother Daniel was playing already. After winning the title with Asiago, for family reasons he decided to return to North America to play his final 2010–11 season in 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 E ...

with the

Las Vegas Wranglers The Las Vegas Wranglers were a professional ice hockey team based in Las Vegas Valley. The Wranglers were members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League). The Wranglers were founded a ...

Career statistics

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bellissimo, Vince 1982 births Living people Asiago Hockey 1935 players Canadian ice hockey right wingers ERC Ingolstadt players Florida Everblades players Florida Panthers draft picks HC TWK Innsbruck players KalPa players Las Vegas Wranglers players Lowell Lock Monsters players San Antonio Rampage players Ice hockey people from Toronto Topeka Scarecrows players Western Michigan Broncos men's ice hockey players