Mark I. Fistric (born June 1, 1986) 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 h ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

. He last played with the Anaheim Ducks of 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). He was drafted by the Dallas Stars 28th overall in the first round of the

2004 NHL Entry Draft The 2004 NHL Entry Draft was the 42nd NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 26 and 27, 2004 at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is especially notable because it was the last NHL event to take place before the beginning of the lockout ...

. He played

major junior Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

for the

Vancouver Giants The Vancouver Giants are a major junior ice hockey team playing in the Western Hockey League (WHL). Inaugurated in 2001–02, the Giants have won one President's Cup (now known as the Ed Chynoweth Cup) in 2006 and one Memorial Cup in 2007 in t ...

of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

(WHL).

Playing career

Fistric began his

career in the WHL with the

in 2001–02 while spending the majority of the season in the

Alberta Midget Hockey League The Alberta Elite Hockey League or AEHL (formerly the Alberta Midget Hockey League) is the provincial U18 "AAA" ice hockey league for Alberta, Canada. The league consists of 17 teams split into the North and South Divisions. League champions go ...

(AMHL), winning the

Brian Benning Brian Anthony Benning (born June 10, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played ten seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the St. Louis Blues, Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, Edmonton Oilers, and ...

Trophy as the league's top defenceman with the Maple Leaf Athletic Club. After a 12-point campaign with the Giants in 2003–04, he was drafted in the first round, 28th overall, by the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and were founded during the 1967 NHL expansion as the Minne ...

in the

. He returned to the Giants but was kept out of the lineup for all but 15 games in the subsequent 2004–05 season. In his fourth and final WHL season, Fistric won the 2006

President's Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar but considerably ...

with the Giants and competed in the

2006 Memorial Cup The 2006 Memorial Cup was held in Moncton, New Brunswick, from May 19–28. It was the 88th annual Memorial Cup competition and determined the major junior ice hockey champion of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The host team Moncton Wildcats ...

. Five years after graduating from junior, Fistric was inducted into the Giants' Ring of Honour, a series of banners commemorating the team's best alumni. Turning pro in 2006–07, Fistric was assigned to the

Iowa Stars The Iowa Stars, later known as the Iowa Chops, were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. The club was based in Des Moines, Iowa at the Wells Fargo Arena. History The Stars were founded by Howard Baldwin, of Hockey Holdi ...

, Dallas'

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, and scored 24 points in his professional rookie season. He made his debut with Dallas the following season in 2007–08, splitting the campaign between Iowa and the NHL. He managed 2 assists in his 35-game NHL rookie season with the Stars. Fistric continued to split time between the Stars and the AHL in 2008–09, recording 4 assists in 36 games in his second NHL season. In the off-season, the Stars re-signed Fistric to a three-year, $3 million contract on July 8, 2009. Fistric is known for his aggressive physical play. In a game against the

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

on January 27, 2010, Fistric received a match penalty for intent to injure after hitting opposing forward

Eric Nystrom Eric Thore Nystrom (born February 14, 1983) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He was a first round selection of the Calgary Flames, taken 10th overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, and made his NHL debut with Calgary in 2005. ...

(who later became a Stars teammate) over the head with his own helmet during a fight, when the helmet became caught on his hand. The following day, he was fined $2,500 by the league for the incident. On January 14, 2013, Prior to the

lockout Lockout may refer to: * Lockout (industry), a type of work stoppage **Dublin Lockout, a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers 1913 - 1914 * Lockout (sports), lockout in sports leagues **MLB lockout, lock ...

shortened

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season, Fistric was traded by the Stars to 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 ...

for a Third Round pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. On August 20, 2013, the Anaheim Ducks signed Fistric as a free agent to a one-year, $900,000 contract. In the 2013–14 season, Fistric was the Ducks depth defenseman, adding a physical element in 34 games. During the campaign, Fistric was signed to a three-year contract extension with Anaheim on January 29, 2014. In the following 2014–15 season, Fistric effectiveness was hampered by a back injury, limiting him to just 9 regular season games. With the emergence of depth among the organization on the blueline, Fistric was placed on unconditional waivers and bought out from the final two-years of his contract with the Ducks on June 29, 2015.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

Ball hockey

As of 2012, Fistric annually competed in Division 8 of a Ball Hockey Association in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. As of 2013, Fistric also played summer hockey in the Strathcona Summer Hockey League.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fistric, Mark 1986 births Anaheim Ducks players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Canadian people of Croatian descent Dallas Stars draft picks Dallas Stars players Edmonton Oilers players Ice hockey people from Edmonton Iowa Stars players Living people Manitoba Moose players National Hockey League first-round draft picks Norfolk Admirals players Texas Stars players Vancouver Giants players