Jump to content

Mike Busniuk

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Rickyharder (talk | contribs) at 16:15, 12 July 2020. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Mike Busniuk
Born (1951-12-13) December 13, 1951 (age 73)
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Right
Played for Philadelphia Flyers
NHL draft 67th overall, 1971
Montreal Canadiens
Playing career 1974–1984

Michael Busniuk (born December 13, 1951) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and coach. He is the younger brother of Ron Busniuk.[1] Busniuk was selected 67th overall, in the 5th round of the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft, by the Montreal Canadiens and played two seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers. Busniuk played eight seasons in the American Hockey League and is the only player to be a member of four consecutive Calder Cup championship teams (1976–1979), and to win five cups as a player. Busniuk won a sixth Calder Cup as a coach.

Busniuk was born in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Playing career

Busniuk played junior ice hockey with the Fort William Canadians. During his third and final year, in 1970-71, Busniuk was picked up as an add-on player by the Fort William Hurricanes who had advanced to the 1970 Memorial Cup. In 12 games, he scored twice and had four points.[2] Busniuk played collegiate hockey with the University of Denver Pioneers while earning a teaching certificate in physical education.[2] Busniuk was named team captain in the 1973–74 season.[1] The Pioneers made the Final Four three of the four years he attended the school.

After graduating, Busniuk’s professional hockey career began with being assigned to the Montreal Canadien's AHL farm team, the Nova Scotia Voyageurs for the 1974–75 season. Busniuk played with the Beauce Jaros of the NAHL for the 1975–76 season. The Jaros were the top team in the league in the regular season, but lost in the Lockhart Cup finals. After the NAHL playoffs completed, Busniuk played in one playoff game with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs winning the 1976 Calder Cup. Busniuk and the Voyageurs repeated as Calder Cup champions in 1977.

October 23, 1977 Busniuk signed as a free agent by Philadelphia and was assigned to the Maine Mariners in the AHL.[3] The Mariners were Calder cup champions in 1978 and 1979, and Busniuk became the only person to play on four consecutive Calder Cup winning teams.[4] Three games into the 1979–80 season, Busniuk was called up from the Mariners to the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers. Busniuk helped the Flyers reach the 1980 Stanley Cup Finals Final, where they lost in six games to the New York Islanders. Busniuk played for the Flyers for two seasons between 1979 and 1981. In his NHL career, he finished with three goals and 23 assists in 143 games, to go with 297 penalty minutes.

Busniuk returned to the Maine Mariners for the 1981–82 season. He would split the next three seasons playing in the AHL and in Europe with HC Brunico in the Italian Serie A league. Busniuk won a fifth Calder Cup playing with the Mariners in the 1983–84 season. Busniuk won the Calder Cup five times during his playing career to share the record for most Calder Cups won with Bob Solinger, Les Duff, and Fred Glover.[4]

Coaching career

Busniuk began his coaching career as head coach of the Tri-City Americans in the 1991–92 WHL season. He was hired as an assistant coach for the New York Rangers' AHL team Binghamton Rangers. Busniuk remained in Binghamton four seasons, and stayed with the team when it relocated to become the Hartford Wolf Pack for another five seasons. In 2000, as an assistant with the Hartford Wolf Pack, Busniuk won a sixth Calder Cup. Busniuk served as head coach of the United Hockey League's Muskegon Fury in 2002-03, where he posted a 38-29-9 record. Busniuk returned to Binghamton to serve as an assistant coach with the Ottawa Senators' AHL team, the Binghamton Senators of the American Hockey League from 2003 to 2010.

Busniuk then returned home to Thunder Bay, where he served in a similar capacity with the Lakehead Thunderwolves, eventually filling in as an interim coach after Joel Scherban was fired four games into the 2012-13 season. He also taught at Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School, an all First Nations school in Thunder Bay.

In 2013 Busniuk returned to Brunico, Italy to be head coach of HC Pustertal Wölfe, the same city he played for from 1982-1985.

Statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1967–68 Fort William Canadians TBJHL 24 11 11 22 27 –– –– –– –– ––
1968–69 Fort William Canadians TBJHL –– –– –– –– –– 13 3 6 9 10
1969–70 Fort William Canadians TBJHL –– –– –– –– –– –– –– –– –– ––
1969–70 Fort William Hurricanes TBJHL –– –– –– –– –– 12 2 2 4 25
1970–71 U. of Denver WCHA 36 1 10 11 46 –– –– –– –– ––
1971–72 U. of Denver WCHA 38 1 19 20 77 –– –– –– –– ––
1972–73 U. of Denver WCHA 39 20 17 37 70 –– –– –– –– ––
1973–74 U. of Denver WCHA 32 18 22 40 34 –– –– –– –– ––
1974–75 Nova Scotia Voyageurs AHL 69 15 17 32 94 6 1 0 1 2
1975–76 Beauce Jaros NAHL 65 14 52 66 179 14 1 12 13 61
1975–76 Nova Scotia Voyageurs AHL –– –– –– –– –– 1 0 0 0 4
1976–77 Nova Scotia Voyageurs AHL 80 1 15 16 160 12 0 0 0 4
1977–78 Maine Mariners AHL 75 5 15 20 72 12 0 1 1 44
1978–79 Maine Mariners AHL 79 10 35 45 215 10 0 5 5 4
1979–80 Maine Mariners AHL 3 2 1 3 7 –– –– –– –– ––
1979–80 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 71 2 18 20 93 19 2 4 6 23
1980–81 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 72 1 5 6 204 6 0 1 1 11
1981–82 Maine Mariners AHL 78 12 26 38 203 4 1 0 1 20
1982–83 HC Brunico Serie A 29 16 33 49 43 10 9 12 21 18
1982–83 Maine Mariners AHL 11 0 5 5 14 17 1 5 6 52
1983–84 HC Brunico Serie A 27 16 30 46 28 7 3 5 8 6
1983–84 Maine Mariners AHL 2 0 1 1 2 16 1 1 2 105
1984–85 HC Brunico Serie A 26 9 16 25 29 6 4 4 8 14
1985–86 Thunder Bay Twins Sr. A –– –– –– –– –– –– –– –– –– ––
1986–87 Thunder Bay Twins Sr. A 8 0 3 3 36 –– –– –– –– ––
NHL totals 143 3 23 26 297 25 2 5 7 34
AHL totals 397 45 114 159 767 78 4 12 16 235
Serie A totals 82 41 79 120 100 23 16 21 37 38

Coaching record

Team Year League Regular Season Post Season
G W L T OTW OTL Pts Finish Result
Tri-City Americans 1991-92 WHL 72 35 35 2 –– –– 72 3rd in West Lost in round 1
Muskegon Fury 2002–03 UHL 76 38 29 9 –– –– 85 3rd in Western Lost in round 2
Lakehead Thunderwolves 2012–13 OUA –– –– –– –– –– –– –– –– Lost in round 1
HC Pustertal Wölfe 2013–14 Elite A 42 23 14 –– 1 4 75 3rd in league Lost in finals

References

  1. ^ a b "Mike Busniuk". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  2. ^ a b "Mike Busniuk". legendsofhockey.net. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  3. ^ "Mike Busniuk Stats". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  4. ^ a b "Story of the Calder Cup". theahl.com. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mike_Busniuk&oldid=967326004"