Michael Anthony O'Neill (born November 3, 1967) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...

who played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL).

Playing career

O'Neill was born in

LaSalle, Quebec LaSalle () is the most southerly borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located in the south-west portion of the Island of Montreal, along the Saint Lawrence River. Prior to 2002, it was a separate municipalit ...

. As a youth, he played in the 1979 and 1980

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament () is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, and give an opportunity for international competition to p ...

s with a

minor ice hockey Minor ice hockey or minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body c ...

team from LaSalle. O'Neill played four years at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

before spending the 1989–90 season with

Tappara Tampere Tappara (; Finnish for "Battle axe") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team playing in the SM-liiga. They play at '' Nokia Arena'' in Tampere, Finland. The team has won 20 Finnish league championships, which makes them the most successful club ...

of the

SM-liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mest ...

. He was drafted 15th overall by the Winnipeg Jets in the 1988 NHL Supplemental Draft while he was at Yale University. He joined the Jets'

farm system In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

when he returned to North America in 1990–91. O'Neill mainly played for the

Moncton Hawks The Moncton Hawks were a professional ice hockey team based in Moncton, New Brunswick. They played in the American Hockey League between 1987 and 1994, operating as a minor league affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets. Home games were played at the Mon ...

of the AHL and the

Fort Wayne Komets The Fort Wayne Komets are a minor league ice hockey team, which currently plays in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In all of North American professional hockey, only the Orig ...

of the IHL, only playing a few times for the Jets in the 1991–92 and 1992–93 seasons. In the 1993–94 season, he made 17 appearances for the Jets posting a 0–9–1 record. O'Neill returned to the minors and, in 1995–96, made 74 appearances with the

Baltimore Bandits The Baltimore Bandits were an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League in the 1995–96 and 1996–97 seasons. They played in Baltimore, Maryland, at the Baltimore Arena. The Bandits were an affiliate of the National Hockey League's Might ...

, an AHL record. O'Neill was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

by Anaheim and made his debut on December 11, 1997 against

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

relieving

Mikhail Shtalenkov Mikhail Alekseyevich Shtalenkov (; born October 20, 1965) is a Russian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played extensively in his native USSR and Russia for HC Dynamo Moscow before moving to North America, where he played with the M ...

halfway through the second period, allowing 3 goals on 10 shots. He played mainly for the

Long Beach Ice Dogs The Long Beach Ice Dogs were an American professional ice hockey team based in Long Beach, California, at the Long Beach Sports Arena. They played until the end of the 2006–07 ECHL season. History The Ice Dogs trace their origins to the San ...

in the IHL. He then signed with the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...

as a free agent in August 1997 and played 47 games for the

Portland Pirates The Portland Pirates were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). Their home arena was the Cross Insurance Arena in downtown Portland, Maine. The franchise was previously known as the Baltimore Skipjacks ...

of the AHL in 1997–98. O'Neill played for

EC VSV EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV are an ice hockey team in the ICE Hockey League. They play their home games at Stadthalle (capacity approximately 4,500 spectators) in Villach, Austria. The team colors are blue and white. Their mascot is an eagle - Vill ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

in the 1998–99 season before returning to North America to play for the Long Beach Ice Dogs and the

Michigan K-Wings Michigan ( ) is a peninsular state in the Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are ...

during 1999–00 season. In 2000–01, he played for the

Sheffield Steelers The Sheffield Steelers are a professional ice hockey team located in Sheffield, England. They were formed in 1991 and play their home games at the Utilita Arena. They are currently a member of the Elite Ice Hockey League. The club's main (tit ...

of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Ice Hockey Superleague The British Ice Hockey Superleague (BISL, also known as the Sekonda Ice Hockey Superleague from 1998 to 1999 for sponsorship reasons) was a professional ice hockey league in the United Kingdom between 1996 and 2003. Devised in 1995, it replaced ...

, and won the

B&H Cup The Benson & Hedges Cup was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales that was held from 1972 to 2002, one of cricket's longest sponsorship deals. It was the third major one-day competition established in Engla ...

, the

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

, the League Championship and the Playoff Championship. O'Neill retired from professional hockey following the 2000–01 season. O'Neill holds the record for the most NHL career games without a win.

Awards and honors

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

*
Hockey Goalies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, Mike 1967 births Living people Anglophone Quebec people Baltimore Bandits players Canadian ice hockey goaltenders EC VSV players Fort Wayne Komets players Long Beach Ice Dogs (IHL) players Kalamazoo Wings (1974–2000) players Mighty Ducks of Anaheim players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Moncton Hawks players NHL supplemental draft picks People from LaSalle, Quebec Phoenix Roadrunners (IHL) players Portland Pirates players Sheffield Steelers players Tappara players Winnipeg Jets (1979–1996) draft picks Winnipeg Jets (1979–1996) players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Yale Bulldogs men's ice hockey players Ice hockey people from Montreal AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland