Michael Zanier (born August 22, 1962) is a Canadian-born Italian former professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) 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. In ice hockey, two o ...
goaltender
In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...
who played extensively in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...
and in
North American minor leagues.
Born in
Trail, British Columbia
Trail is a city in the West Kootenay region of the Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It was named after the Dewdney Trail, which passed through the area. The town was first called Trail Creek or Trail Creek Landing, and the name was shorte ...
, Zanier's junior career was spent with five different teams in the
WHL. He was never drafted, but signed with 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 of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...
where he saw some
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
playing time. Zanier dressed for games 4 and 5 of the
1984 Stanley Cup Finals
The 1984 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1983–84 season, and the culmination of the 1984 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the defending Campbell Conference champion Edmonton O ...
, due to
Grant Fuhr
Grant Scott Fuhr (born September 28, 1962) is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender in the National Hockey League and former goaltending coach for the Arizona Coyotes, who is best remembered for a decade of stellar play for the Edmonton Oilers ...
being injured. He did not appear in either game. Although the Oilers won the Cup, Zanier's name was not engraved on it because he had not officially played in any NHL games. However, he did receive a Stanley Cup ring. Zanier played three games for Edmonton during
the next season, but that was the extent of his NHL career. Zanier went on to play many seasons in Europe, and represented
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
at the
1992 Winter Olympics
)
, nations = 64
, athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women)
, events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines)
, opening = 8 February 1992
, closing = 23 February 1992
, opened_by = President François Mitterrand
, cauldron ...
.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
International
External links
*
1962 births
Living people
Abbotsford Flyers players
Asiago Hockey 1935 players
Billings Bighorns players
Bolzano HC players
Calgary Wranglers (WHL) players
Canadian ice hockey goaltenders
Dallas Freeze players
EC Hannover Turtles players
Edmonton Oilers players
Ice hockey people from British Columbia
Ice hockey players at the 1992 Winter Olympics
Indianapolis Checkers players
Italian ice hockey goaltenders
Medicine Hat Tigers players
Moncton Alpines (AHL) players
New Westminster Bruins players
Nottingham Panthers players
Nova Scotia Oilers players
Olympic ice hockey players for Italy
Serie A (ice hockey) players
Spokane Flyers players
Sportspeople from Trail, British Columbia
Undrafted National Hockey League players
Western International Hockey League players
{{Italy-icehockey-bio-stub