David Aebischer

David Aebischer
Born (1978-02-07) February 7, 1978
Geneva, Switzerland[1]
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Goaltender
Played for HC Fribourg-Gottéron
Colorado Avalanche
HC Lugano
Montreal Canadiens
Phoenix Coyotes
Rapperswil-Jona Lakers
HC Thurgau
National team   Switzerland
NHL Draft 161st Overall, 1997
Colorado Avalanche
Playing career 1996–2015

David Aebischer (born February 7, 1978), is a former Swiss professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League with the Colorado Avalanche, Montreal Canadiens and Phoenix Coyotes. He was a member of the 2001 Stanley Cup champion Avalanche team, becoming the first Swiss native to achieve the feat. Aebischer also played several seasons in his native Switzerland with HC Fribourg-Gottéron, HC Lugano and the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers of the Nationalliga A.

Playing career

Aebischer was drafted 161st overall by the Colorado Avalanche in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. He moved to North America in 1997 and spent the 1997–98 season in the ECHL, first with the Chesapeake Icebreakers and then with the Wheeling Nailers. He spent the next two seasons with Colorado's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Hershey Bears, with whom he compiled a 46-33-7 record. When the Avalanche traded back-up goaltender Marc Denis to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the summer of 2000, Aebischer became the full-time back-up to starting goaltender Patrick Roy.

Aebischer played 26 games during his rookie season with Colorado. Aebischer made his NHL debut, and first NHL start on October 18, 2000 against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Columbus for his first NHL victory.[2] On October 26, 2000 in his second career start, Aebischer shut out the Chicago Blackhawks in Chicago for his first NHL career shutout.[3] The year would prove a successful one, as Roy backstopped the Avalanche to their second Stanley Cup championship, defeating the New Jersey Devils in a seven-game final series.[4] With the win, Aebischer became the first Swiss hockey player to win the Stanley Cup.[5]

Following two more seasons as the Avalanche's back-up, Aebischer became Colorado's starting goaltender following Roy's retirement in the summer of 2003. He played 62 games and posted 32 wins during the 2003–04 season. That season, he started his first career playoff game for the Avalanche and led Colorado to the second round, where they lost to the San Jose Sharks in six games. The following season, due to the NHL lockout, Aebischer returned to Switzerland and played for HC Lugano in the Nationalliga A.

Aebischer returned to the Avalanche for the 2005–06 season. He was unable to duplicate his pre-lockout form and his inconsistent play led to his being traded to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for goaltender José Théodore on March 8, 2006, a day before the NHL trade deadline.[6]

That summer, Montreal re-signed him to a one-year deal worth $1.9 million.[7] He served as Cristobal Huet's back-up for the 2006–07 season and posted a 13–12–3 record. The Canadiens failed to make the playoffs and Montreal opted not to re-sign Aebischer.

On July 19, 2007, Aebischer signed a one-year, $600,000 contract with the Phoenix Coyotes.[8][9] However, he lost the goaltending battle in training camp to Alex Auld and Mikael Tellqvist, and was waived. He went unclaimed and was subsequently assigned to the Coyotes AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage. On November 23, 2007, Aebischer was loaned to HC Lugano to make room on the San Antonio roster for goaltender Alex Auld.[10]

In August, 2011, after four seasons back in his native Switzerland, Aebischer was invited to the training camp of the Winnipeg Jets for the 2011–12 season on a tryout contract.[11] On October 5, 2011, it was announced that Aebischer would play with the Jets' AHL affiliate, the St. John's IceCaps.[12]

On July 1, 2012, Aebischer again left North America and signed a one-year contract with the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers of the National League A.[13]

In the 2014–15 season, Aebischer played five games with HC Thurgau of the National League B before announcing his retirement from his playing career to focus for a coaching role on January 25, 2015.[14]

International play

Medal record
Representing   Switzerland
Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
1998 Helsinki

Aebischer has represented Switzerland internationally on many occasions. His first international experience came in the 1997 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, hosted by Switzerland. The Swiss finished in 7th place. Aebischer returned as Switzerland's starting goaltender the following year at the 1998 World Juniors and led the team past the quarterfinal round and to a bronze medal finish, defeating the heavily favoured Czech Republic in the bronze medal match. Aebischer has also appeared for Switzerland in five IIHF World Championships and two Winter Olympic Games.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T/OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1996–97 HC Fribourg-Gottéron NLA 10 — — — 577 34 1 3.54 — 3 1 2 185 13 0 4.24 —
1997–98 HC Fribourg-Gottéron NLA 1 1 0 0 60 1 0 1.00 — 4 0 4 240 17 0 4.25 —
1997–98 Chesapeake Icebreakers ECHL 17 5 7 2 930 52 0 3.35 .897 — — — — — — — —
1997–98 Wheeling Nailers ECHL 10 5 3 1 564 30 1 5.54 .858 — — — — — — — —
1997–98 Hershey Bears AHL 2 0 0 1 79 5 0 3.76 .853 — — — — — — — —
1998–99 Hershey Bears AHL 38 17 10 5 1932 79 2 2.45 .920 3 1 2 152 6 0 2.37 .925
1999–00 Hershey Bears AHL 58 29 23 2 3259 180 1 3.31 .902 14 7 6 788 40 2 3.05 .917
2000–01 Colorado Avalanche NHL 26 12 7 3 1393 52 3 2.24 .903 1 0 0 1 0 0 0.00 -
2001–02 Colorado Avalanche NHL 21 13 6 0 1184 37 2 1.88 .931 1 0 0 34 1 0 1.79 .929
2002–03 Colorado Avalanche NHL 22 7 12 0 1235 50 1 2.43 .916 — — — — — — — —
2003–04 Colorado Avalanche NHL 62 32 19 9 3702 129 4 2.09 .924 11 6 5 662 23 1 2.08 .922
2004–05 HC Lugano NLA 18 13 2 3 1019 41 0 2.41 .932 4 1 3 240 10 0 2.50 .938
2005–06 Colorado Avalanche NHL 43 25 14 2 2476 123 3 2.98 .900 — — — — — — — —
2005–06 Montreal Canadiens NHL 7 4 3 0 418 26 0 3.73 .892 — — — — — — — —
2006–07 Montreal Canadiens NHL 32 13 12 3 1760 93 0 3.17 .900 — — — — — — — —
2007–08 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 1 0 1 0 60 3 0 3.00 .909 — — — — — — — —
2007–08 San Antonio Rampage AHL 5 2 3 0 302 13 0 2.58 .898 — — — — — — — —
2007–08 HC Lugano NLA 26 12 14 0 1576 69 2 2.63 .920 5 4 1 301 14 0 2.79 .892
2008–09 HC Lugano NLA 49 27 22 0 2953 140 2 2.84 .922 7 3 4 452 26 0 3.45 .894
2009–10 HC Lugano NLA 46 23 22 1 2751 139 2 3.03 .908 4 0 4 237 22 0 5.57 .835
2010–11 HC Lugano NLA 36 12 24 0 2088 108 3 3.10 .885 — — — — — — — —
2011–12 St. John's IceCaps AHL 31 15 12 2 1722 82 1 2.86 .895 1 0 0 26 2 0 4.56 .833
2012–13 Rapperswil-Jona Lakers NLA 40 15 24 0 2257 147 2 3.91 .896 — — — — — — — —
2013–14 Rapperswil-Jona Lakers NLA 43 12 31 0 2365 148 0 3.76 .872 — — — — — — — —
2014–15 HC Thurgau NLB 5 0 5 0 268 22 0 4.94 .856 — — — — — — — —
NHL totals 214 106 74 17 12229 513 13 2.52 .912 13 6 5 697 24 1 2.07 .922

International

Year Team Event GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1997 Switzerland WJC 5 3 1 1 300 10 0 2.00 —
1998 Switzerland WJC 6 4 2 0 379 10 0 1.58 —
1998 Switzerland WC 7 2 4 1 376 18 0 2.87 —
1999 Switzerland WC 4 1 3 0 173 13 1 4.51 —
2002 Switzerland Oly 2 1 0 0 81 6 0 4.44 .806
2005 Switzerland WC 1 0 0 1 60 3 0 3.00 .903
2006 Switzerland Oly 4 1 0 2 200 7 0 2.10 .940
2006 Switzerland WC 6 2 2 2 359 16 0 2.67 .882
2007 Switzerland WC 1 0 1 0 60 6 0 6.00 .793
Junior totals 11 7 3 1 679 20 0 1.76 —
Senior totals 25 7 10 6 1309 69 1 3.16 —

References

  1. ↑ Alain, Thévoz; David, Aebischer (2001). David Aebischer, Le récit d'une conquête [David Aebischer, The Story of a Conquest] (in French). Fribourg. p. 196. ISBN 2-9700313-0-2..
  2. ↑ "Avs beat Blue Jackets". hockeyreference.com. 2000-10-18. Retrieved 2012-02-04.
  3. ↑ "Avalanche shut-out Blackhawks". hockeyreference.com. 2000-10-26. Retrieved 2012-02-26.
  4. ↑ Kevin Allen (2001-06-10). "Avalanche beat Devils to capture Stanley Cup". USA Today. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
  5. ↑ "Swiss ice hockey star steps out of the shadows". swissinfo. 2003-06-10. Retrieved 2010-11-19.
  6. ↑ "Habs acquire Aebischer from Colorado". canadiens.nhl.com. 2006-03-08. Retrieved 2009-03-28.
  7. ↑ "Canadiens re-sign Aebischer". canadiens.nhl.com. 2006-07-12. Retrieved 2009-03-28.
  8. ↑ "Coyotes sign David Aebischer". coyotes.nhl.com. 2007-07-19. Retrieved 2009-03-28.
  9. ↑ Boeck, Greg (2007-09-25). "Ex-Av Aebischer embraces shot in Phoenix". USAtoday.com. Retrieved 2009-03-28.
  10. ↑ "Phoenix Coyotes loan goalie David Aebischer to Swiss team Lugano". NHL.com. 2007-11-23. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
  11. ↑ Ed Tait (2011-08-19). "David versus Goliaths... and more". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 2011-08-20.
  12. ↑ "Jets sign G Aebischer to AHL contract". TSN. 2011-10-05. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
  13. ↑ "Lakers sign Aebischer" (in German). Rapperswil-Jona Lakers. 2012-07-01. Retrieved 2012-07-01.
  14. ↑ "David Aebischer ends his career" (in German). National League A. 2015-01-25. Retrieved 2015-01-25.
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