Craig Fisher

Craig Fisher (born June 30, 1970) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who currently works in the athletic administration for Ontario Tech University (UOIT), having previously served as the head coach of the UOIT hockey team.

Fisher grew up in Whitby, Ontario, where he and brother Mark played junior hockey. Mark and Craig both played for the Oshawa Legionaires of the Ontario Junior Hockey League. Mark would go on to play for McGill University, while Craig played US college hockey at Miami University.

Craig thrived at Miami, with 42 points (22 goals, 20 assists) in his 1988–89 freshman season, earning First-Team All-Rookie Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) honors, and then producing 66 points (37 goals, 29 assists) in his sophomore season, named to the First-Team All-CCHA Team for 1989–90. Fisher had been drafted 56th overall in the 1988 NHL entry draft by the Philadelphia Flyers and turned pro at the end of the 1989–90 collegiate season. Fisher finished the season with Miami on March 3, 1990, and made his NHL debut with Philadelphia some three weeks later, on March 27.

A prolific scorer, Fisher played 12 NHL games with the Flyers, Winnipeg Jets, and Florida Panthers, but spent much of his career playing for various American Hockey League (AHL) and International Hockey League (IHL) teams. Fisher was part of the AHL championship Cape Breton Oilers, winning the Calder Cup in 1993. He then led the IHL in goals scored (74) in 1995–96 while playing for the Orlando Solar Bears.

In 1999, while playing for the Rochester Americans, Fisher suffered a violent collision, knocked unconscious and hitting his head on the ice. His playing career would come to an end as a result of this traumatic brain injury. Fisher would move into coaching, eventually becoming the head coach for the Whitby Fury, leading the team to a 31–19 (.609) record in 2012–13 and a 35–14 (.698) season in 2013–14. Having previously served at Ontario Tech as an assistant coach, Fisher was named as the head coach of the Ridgebacks in 2014, but was forced to resign shortly afterwards due to ongoing concussion symptoms.

Fisher lives in Whitby with his family and works for Ontario Tech as an athletic advisor, working to raise awareness of concussions in hockey and counseling athletes in dealing with concussion and TBI symptoms.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1986–87 Oshawa Legionaires MJBHL 34 22 26 48 18 — — — — — 1987–88 Oshawa Legionaires MJBHL 36 42 34 76 48 — — — — — 1988–89 Miami University CCHA 37 22 20 42 37 — — — — — 1989–90 Miami University CCHA 39 37 29 66 38 — — — — — 1989–90 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1990–91 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1990–91 Hershey Bears AHL 77 43 36 79 46 7 5 3 8 2 1991–92 Cape Breton Oilers AHL 60 20 25 45 28 1 0 0 0 0 1992–93 Cape Breton Oilers AHL 75 32 29 61 74 1 0 0 0 2 1993–94 Winnipeg Jets NHL 4 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 1993–94 Cape Breton Oilers AHL 16 5 5 10 11 — — — — — 1993–94 Moncton Hawks AHL 46 26 35 61 36 21 11 11 22 28 1994–95 Indianapolis Ice IHL 77 53 40 93 65 — — — — — 1995–96 Orlando Solar Bears IHL 82 74 56 130 81 14 10 7 17 6 1996–97 Florida Panthers NHL 4 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1996–97 Utah Grizzlies IHL 15 6 7 13 4 — — — — — 1996–97 Carolina Monarchs AHL 42 33 29 62 16 — — — — — 1997–98 Kölner Haie DEL 35 9 8 17 36 — — — — — 1998–99 Rochester Americans AHL 70 29 52 81 28 20 9 11 20 10 1999–00 Rochester Americans AHL 17 15 8 23 8 — — — — — AHL totals 403 203 219 422 247 50 25 25 50 42 NHL totals 12 0 0 0 0 — — — — —

Awards and honours Award Year All-CCHA Rookie Team 1988-89 All-CCHA First Team 1989-90