| Mike Fisher | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | June 5, 1980 Peterborough, Ontario, Canada |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Weight | 217 lb (98 kg; 15 st 7 lb) |
| Position | Centre |
| Shoots | Right |
| Played for | Ottawa Senators Nashville Predators EV Zug |
| National team |  Canada
|
| NHL Draft | 44th overall, 1998 Ottawa Senators |
| Playing career | 1999–2017 |
Mike Fisher (born Michael Andrew Fisher on June 5, 1980) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey centre.
He played for the Ottawa Senators and the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL) over 17 seasons and 1,088 games.
Playing Career[]
Junior[]
Mike grew up playing hockey in the Peterborough Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) with the rep Minor Petes program. He was drafted from Jr. A Peterborough Petes (OHA) by the Sudbury Wolves in the second round (22nd overall) in the 1997 OHL Priority Draft.
After putting up 49 points in 66 games in his first year with the Wolves, Mike was drafted in the second round (44th overall) by the Ottawa Senators in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. Returning to the OHL for one more season, he recorded 106 points, fifth overall in league scoring.
Ottawa Senators (1999-2001)[]
Mike debuted with the Senators in 1999–2000 and recorded 9 points in an injury-shortened 32-game rookie season. He became known for his aggressive style of play and began to also show his penchant for offensive production as he improved to 18 goals and 38 points in his fourth season in 2002–03.
During the lock-out year of 2004–05, Mike played overseas for EV Zug in the Swiss Nationalliga A. As NHL play resumed the next season in the 2005–06 season, he emerged with 22 goals and 44 points, providing valuable secondary scoring for the Spezza-Heatley-Alfredsson line.
He helped the Senators to a first seed in the Eastern Conference going into the playoffs, but they were defeated by the fourth-seeded division rivals Buffalo Sabres in five games in the second round.
With a career-high plus-minus (+/-) rating of +23 in the regular season, Mike was nominated for the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward. He finished as second runner-up behind Jere Lehtinen of the Dallas Stars and trophy-winner Rod Brind'Amour, (the captain of the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes).
The following season, Mike duplicated his previous campaign's goals total with 22 and improved to a personal best 26 assists and 48 points. He was kept to 68 games due to a left knee injury, sustained on December 27, 2006, against the New York Islanders, forcing him to sit out four weeks.
In the playoffs, he helped the Senators to the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals, where they fell short to the Anaheim Ducks in five games. Fisher posted career playoff highs with 5 goals, 5 assists and 10 points in 20 games.
With one year left on his contract heading into the 2007–08 season, Mike re-signed with the Senators to a five-year, $21 million contract extension. He went on to set a career-high 23 goals that season, but he was forced to miss the playoffs, injuring his left knee in a knee-on-knee hit from Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mark Bell in the final game of the regular season.
A month and a half into the 2008–09 season, Mike suffered from another knee injury, straining a ligament in his right knee against the New York Islanders on November 17, 2008.
Nashville Predators (2011-2017)[]
On February 10, 2011, Mike was traded to the Nashville Predators in exchange for the Predators' 2011 first round draft pick (Stefan Noesen) and a conditional pick in 2012. The condition was that should the Predators were to win a playoff series, the Senators would receive a third-round pick and a second round pick if the Predators won two or more playoff series.
The Predators won their first round playoff, but they ultimately lost their second round series, meaning the Senators received a third-round pick. According to Mike, although there were many trade deals for him, Ottawa GM Bryan Murray and Ottawa owner Eugene Melnyk had chosen to accept Nashville's offer so that he could be closer to his wife, Carrie Underwood.
On February 12, 2011, Mike played his first game with the Predators on February 12, 2011, and scored an assist in a 5–3 win over the Colorado Avalanche. He scored his first goal as a Predator five days later, on February 17, against the Vancouver Canucks.
He was the winner of the 2012 NHL Foundation Player Award (awarded to the NHL player who applies the core values of hockey: commitment, perseverance and teamwork to enrich the lives of people in his community).
On June 26, 2015, just prior to becoming an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, Mike signed a two-year, $8.8 million contract extension with the Predators, paying $4.8 million in 2015–16 and $4 million in 2016–17.
On May 5, 2016, he scored with 8:48 left in triple overtime in game four of the Western Conference Semi-finals to beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3, to tie the series at two games all.
On September 7, 2016, Mike was named the sixth captain of the Nashville Predators after the previous captain, Shea Weber was traded to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for defenseman P.K. Subban. He led the Predators to the 2017 Stanley Cup Finals eventually losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games.
On August 3, 2017, he announced his retirement from the NHL via a letter addressed to Predators fans in that day's edition of The Tennessean, becoming the first Predators captain to retire with the team.
Career Statistics[]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1996–97 | Peterborough Bees | OJHL | 51 | 26 | 30 | 56 | 56 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | Sudbury Wolves | OHL | 66 | 24 | 24 | 49 | 64 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 13 | ||
| 1998–99 | Sudbury Wolves | OHL | 66 | 41 | 65 | 106 | 55 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 1999–00 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 32 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 60 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 46 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2001–02 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 58 | 15 | 9 | 24 | 55 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2002–03 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 74 | 18 | 20 | 38 | 54 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 16 | ||
| 2003–04 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 24 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 39 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2004–05 | EV Zug | NLA | 21 | 9 | 18 | 27 | 39 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 20 | ||
| 2005–06 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 68 | 22 | 22 | 44 | 64 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12 | ||
| 2006–07 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 68 | 22 | 26 | 48 | 41 | 20 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 24 | ||
| 2007–08 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 79 | 23 | 24 | 47 | 82 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 78 | 13 | 19 | 32 | 66 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 79 | 25 | 28 | 53 | 59 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | ||
| 2010–11 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 55 | 14 | 10 | 24 | 33 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 27 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 11 | ||
| 2011–12 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 72 | 24 | 27 | 51 | 33 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | ||
| 2012–13 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 38 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 27 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 75 | 20 | 29 | 49 | 60 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 59 | 19 | 20 | 39 | 39 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 70 | 13 | 10 | 23 | 29 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 2 | ||
| 2016–17 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 72 | 18 | 24 | 42 | 55 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | ||
| NHL totals | 1088 | 276 | 309 | 585 | 807 | 134 | 23 | 28 | 51 | 89 | ||||
Personal Life[]
Mike was born and raised in Peterborough, Ontario, to parents Jim and Karen and is a devout Christian. He has two brothers Rob and Gregory (aka "Bud") and a sister, Meredith.
His uncle is David Fisher, a former chaplain to the Toronto Blue Jays baseball club and his brother Gregory is also a hockey player; he is a goaltender who played for Quinnipiac University in the ECAC.
On October 23, 2009, Mike replaced Senators' then-starting goaltender Pascal Leclaire in net during a Senators' practice after Leclaire fell ill.
In the off-season, he devotes time to hockey camps in his hometown in Peterborough, Kingston and Ottawa through Hockey Ministries International. Mike has also been a guest instructor at the Roger Neilson Hockey Camp.
Mike is married to American country music singer Carrie Underwood. They met backstage after one of Underwood's concerts in 2008. They became engaged on December 20, 2009. The engagement was confirmed by Mike the next morning during the Senators' morning skate.
On July 10, 2010, Mike married Carrie at The Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation in Greensboro, Georgia with more than 250 people in attendance. Carrie surprised him by having one of their favorite artists, Brandon Heath sing his song "Love Never Fails" for their first dance.
On September 1, 2014, it was announced that Mike and Carrie were expecting their first child together. In February of 2015, Carrie gave birth to their first child, a son named Isaiah Michael Fisher.