Michael Duco (born July 8, 1987) is a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

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 ...

player. Duco played 18 games 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 ...

with the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played it ...

and

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

between 2009 and 2012, spending most of his professional career in the minor-league

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

and

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

. Prior to becoming a professional, Duco spent five seasons with the

Kitchener Rangers The Kitchener Rangers are a major junior ice hockey team based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. The Rangers have won the J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHL ...

of the

major junior Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National List of members of the International Ice Hockey Federation, Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's nationa ...

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; ) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League, alongside the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The league is for players ag ...

. After retiring from playing in 2017, Duco became the interim head coach of the

Elmira Jackals The Elmira Jackals were a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Elmira, New York. They were members of the United Hockey League from 2000 to 2007 and the ECHL from 2007 to 2017. The Jackals played their home games at First Arena. ...

in the

; subsequently, he was the last coach of the team before it folded.

Playing career

As a youth, Duco played in the 2001

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 ...

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

Vaughan Vaughan ( ) (2022 population 344,412) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increa ...

Junior

Duco began his

(OHL) career late in the 2003–04 season with the

. In five games Duco registered one goal and two assists and added another assist in three playoff games. In his first full season Duco recorded 24 goals and 50 points in 62 games. He also registered a +16 rating, eight

power play "Power play" is a sporting term used to describe a period of play where one team has a numerical advantage in players, usually due to a rule violation by the opposing team. Temporary numerical advantage in players during a team sport In several ...

goals, and two

shorthanded Short-handed is a term used in ice hockey and several related sports, including water polo, and refers to having fewer players on the ice during play, as a result of a penalty. The player removed from play serves the penalty in the penalty box fo ...

goals. At season's end Duco was named to the OHL's All-Rookie Second Team. Prior to the 2005–06 season Duco was invited 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 (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

training camp. He failed to make the team or be given a contract and returned to Kitchener. There his overall production dipped to 22 goals and 44 points, but he increased his power play goal total to 11. In the post-season Duco added 2 goals and an assist in 5 games. The following year, he was again invited to Oilers camp where he was unable to gain a contract and was reassigned to the Rangers. During the 2006–07 season Duco registered his third straight 20 goal season, but his production dropped for a second consecutive season registering 40 points. In the playoffs Duco notched a goal and an assist in nine post-season games. In the off-season Duco was invited to the

training camp in Kitchener. His performance at this camp earned him an invite to the Panthers main training camp, where he played in one pre-season game and was signed to an entry-level contract. Duco was reassigned to Kitchner for his overage season and set career highs in goals, 32, points, 54, and

penalty minutes A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for an infringement of the rules. Most penalties are enforced by sending the offending player to a penalty box for a set number of minutes. During the penalty the player may not participate in play. Penalties ...

(PIM), 173.

Professional

Duco played his first professional season with the Panthers

(AHL) affiliate the

Rochester Americans The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Rochester, New York. They are the American Hockey League affiliate of the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home g ...

in the 2008–09 season. He finished the year with 14 goals, 28 points and 141 PIMs. Duco ranked fifth on the team in goal scoring while leading the club in penalty minutes. The following season Duco began the year with Rochester but was called up by the Panthers where he made his NHL debut on December 2, 2009, in a game against the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. The Avalanche compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Con ...

. He finished the year playing in 10 NHL games without recording a goal or an assist but notched 50 PIMs, in the AHL he recorded 9 goals and 19 points in 59 games. In the off-season he was re-signed by the Panthers to a one-year deal. In the 2010–11 season Duco had a professional career high with 20 goals in 67 games for the Americans, but managed to play in only two games for the Panthers. His 20 goals led Rochester. At the end of the season Duco became a

restricted free agent A restricted free agent (RFA) is a type of free agent in some sports leagues, such as the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), and National Basketball Association (NBA). Such players have special restrictions on the term ...

and the Panthers tendered him a qualifying offer. During the off-season, on July 9, 2011, his rights were traded by the Panthers to the

for the rights to Russian winger

Sergei Shirokov Sergei Sergeyevich Shirokov (, ; born 10 March 1986) is a Russian professional ice hockey winger currently with Sibir Novosibirsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Before signing with Vancouver in 2009, Shirokov played with CSKA Moscow ...

. Five days later he signed a contract with Vancouver. He played six games for the Canucks in the 2011–12 season, spending most of the season with the Canuck's American League affiliate Chicago Wolves. The Canucks declined to re-sign Duco following the season, making him an unrestricted free agent. Duco then joined Red Bull Salzburg of the Austrian League for the final 21 games of the 2012–13 season. In September 2013, the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League announced the signing of Duco to a Training Camp Tryout agreement, then later to a one-year agreement. On October 6, 2014, Duco signed as a free agent to a one-year ECHL contract with the

Indy Fuel The Indy Fuel are a minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL that began play in the 2014–15 season. Based in Fishers, Indiana, the Fuel play their home games at the Fishers Event Center, after having started play at the Indiana Farmers ...

in their inaugural season in 2014–15. At the conclusion of the season with the Fuel, Duco opted to return to Europe, signing a one-year contract with English club, the Sheffield Steelers of the EIHL on June 14, 2015.

Playing style

At 5 foot 10 inches tall, Duco was small for a

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

, but played an aggressive physical style with a willingness to

fight Combat (French language, French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent Conflict (process), conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (Hand-to-hand combat, not usin ...

. He played an energetic game, and was known to finish his checks, and could be an agitator. Peter DeBoer, who coached Duco, said that Duco didn't play small but rather played like a player a foot taller.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Duco, Mike 1987 births Living people Canadian ice hockey forwards Chicago Wolves players Evansville IceMen players Florida Panthers players Ice hockey people from Toronto Indy Fuel players Kitchener Rangers players Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL) players Rochester Americans players EC Red Bull Salzburg players Sheffield Steelers players Toronto Marlies players Undrafted National Hockey League players Vancouver Canucks players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States 21st-century Canadian sportsmen