David Aebischer

David Aebischer (born February 7, 1978) is a Swiss former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League with the Colorado Avalanche, Montreal Canadiens and the Phoenix Coyotes. He was a member of the 2001 Stanley Cup champion Avalanche team, becoming the first Swiss native to achieve the feat. Aebischer also played several seasons in his native Switzerland with HC Fribourg-Gottéron, HC Lugano and the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers of the National League (NL).

Aebischer is currently a goalie coach for HC Fribourg-Gottéron.

Playing career As a youth, Aebischer played in the 1992 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a team from Switzerland.

Aebischer was drafted 161st overall by the Colorado Avalanche in the 1997 NHL entry draft. He moved to North America in 1997 and spent the 1997–98 season in the ECHL, first with the Chesapeake Icebreakers and then with the Wheeling Nailers. He spent the next two seasons with Colorado's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Hershey Bears, with whom he compiled a 46-33-7 record. When the Avalanche traded backup goaltender Marc Denis to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the summer of 2000, Aebischer became the full-time backup to starting goaltender Patrick Roy.

Aebischer played 26 games during his rookie season with Colorado. Aebischer made his NHL debut, and first NHL start on October 18, 2000 against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Columbus for his first NHL victory. On October 26, 2000 in his second career start, Aebischer shut out the Chicago Blackhawks in Chicago for his first NHL career shutout. The year would prove a successful one, as Roy backstopped the Avalanche to their second Stanley Cup championship, defeating the New Jersey Devils in a seven-game final series. With the win, Aebischer became the first Swiss hockey player to win the Stanley Cup.

Following two more seasons as the Avalanche backup, Aebischer became Colorado's starting goaltender following Roy's retirement in the summer of 2003. He played 62 games and posted 32 wins during the 2003–04 season. That season, he started his first career playoff game for the Avalanche and led Colorado to the second round, where they lost to the San Jose Sharks in six games. The following season, due to the NHL lockout, Aebischer returned to Switzerland and played for HC Lugano in the Nationalliga A.

Aebischer returned to the Avalanche for the 2005–06 season. He was unable to duplicate his pre-lockout form and his inconsistent play led to him being traded to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for goaltender José Théodore on March 8, 2006, a day before the NHL trade deadline.

That summer, Montreal re-signed him to a one-year deal worth $1.9 million. He served as Cristobal Huet's backup for the 2006–07 season and posted a 13–12–3 record. The Canadiens failed to make the playoffs and Montreal opted not to re-sign Aebischer.

On July 19, 2007, Aebischer signed a one-year, $600,000 contract with the Phoenix Coyotes. However, he lost the goaltending battle in training camp to Alex Auld and Mikael Tellqvist, and was waived. He went unclaimed and was subsequently assigned to the Coyotes AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage. On November 23, 2007, Aebischer was loaned to HC Lugano to make room on the San Antonio roster for goaltender Alex Auld.

In August, 2011, after four seasons back in his native Switzerland, Aebischer was invited to the training camp of the Winnipeg Jets for the 2011–12 season on a tryout contract. On October 5, 2011, it was announced that Aebischer would play with the Jets' AHL affiliate, the St. John's IceCaps.

On July 1, 2012, Aebischer again left North America and signed a one-year contract with the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers of the National League A.

In the 2014–15 season, Aebischer played five games with HC Thurgau of the National League B before announcing his retirement from his playing career to focus for a coaching role on January 25, 2015.

International play Aebischer has represented Switzerland internationally on many occasions. His first international experience came in the 1997 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, hosted by Switzerland. The Swiss finished in 7th place. Aebischer returned as Switzerland's starting goaltender the following year at the 1998 World Juniors and led the team past the quarterfinal round and to a bronze medal finish, defeating the heavily favoured Czech Republic in the bronze medal match. Aebischer has also appeared for Switzerland in five IIHF World Championships and two Winter Olympic Games.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L T OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1994–95 HC Fribourg–Gottéron SUI U20 27 — — — — — — — 3.58 — 2 — — — — — 2.50 — 1995–96 HC Fribourg–Gottéron SUI U20 29 — — — — — — — 3.20 — 3 — — — — — 3.01 — 1996–97 HC Fribourg–Gottéron SUI U20 24 — — — — — — — 2.65 — 2 — — — — — 2.22 — 1996–97 HC Fribourg–Gottéron NDA 10 — — — — 577 34 0 3.54 — 3 1 2 184 13 0 4.24 — 1997–98 Chesapeake Icebreakers ECHL 17 5 7 2 — 930 52 0 3.35 .897 — — — — — — — — 1997–98 Wheeling Nailers ECHL 10 5 3 1 — 564 30 1 3.19 .858 — — — — — — — — 1997–98 Hershey Bears AHL 2 0 0 1 — 79 5 0 3.76 .853 — — — — — — — — 1997–98 HC Fribourg–Gottéron NDA 1 1 0 0 — 60 1 0 1.00 — 4 — — 240 17 — 4.25 — 1998–99 Hershey Bears AHL 38 17 10 5 — 1932 79 2 2.45 .920 3 1 2 152 6 0 2.37 .925 1999–00 Hershey Bears AHL 58 29 23 2 — 3259 180 1 3.31 .902 14 7 6 788 40 2 3.05 .917 2000–01 Colorado Avalanche NHL 26 12 7 3 — 1393 52 3 2.24 .903 1 0 0 1 0 0 0.00 — 2001–02 Colorado Avalanche NHL 21 13 6 0 — 1184 37 2 1.88 .931 1 0 0 34 1 0 1.79 .929 2002–03 Colorado Avalanche NHL 22 7 12 0 — 1235 50 1 2.43 .916 — — — — — — — — 2003–04 Colorado Avalanche NHL 62 32 19 9 — 3703 129 4 2.09 .924 11 6 5 662 23 1 2.08 .922 2004–05 HC Lugano NLA 18 12 2 3 — 1019 41 0 2.41 .933 4 1 3 240 10 0 2.50 .939 2005–06 Colorado Avalanche NHL 43 25 14 — 2 2477 123 3 2.98 .900 — — — — — — — — 2005–06 Montreal Canadiens NHL 7 4 3 — 0 418 26 0 3.73 .892 — — — — — — — — 2006–07 Montreal Canadiens NHL 32 13 12 — 3 1760 93 0 3.17 .900 — — — — — — — — 2007–08 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 1 0 1 — 0 60 3 0 3.00 .909 — — — — — — — — 2007–08 San Antonio Rampage AHL 5 2 3 — 0 302 13 0 2.58 .898 — — — — — — — — 2007–08 HC Lugano NLA 26 12 14 — — 1576 69 2 2.63 .921 — — — — — — — — 2008–09 HC Lugano NLA 49 27 22 — — 2953 140 2 2.84 .923 7 3 4 452 26 0 3.45 .895 2009–10 HC Lugano NLA 48 23 24 — — 2897 156 2 3.23 .916 4 0 4 240 22 0 5.50 .836 2010–11 HC Lugano NLA 35 10 18 — 3 2038 109 3 3.21 .872 — — — — — — — — 2011–12 St. John's IceCaps AHL 31 15 12 — 2 1722 82 1 2.86 .895 1 0 0 26 2 0 4.56 .833 2012–13 Rapperswil–Jona Lakers NLA 40 13 21 — 1 2256 146 2 3.88 .897 — — — — — — — — 2013–14 Rapperswil–Jona Lakers NLA 43 9 28 — 3 2364 148 0 3.76 .872 — — — — — — — — 2014–15 HC Thurgau NLB 5 — — — — — — — 4.93 .856 — — — — — — — — NLA totals 270 — — — — 15,740 844 11 3.22 — 22 — — 1356 88 — 3.89 — NHL totals 214 106 74 12 5 12,230 513 13 2.52 .912 13 6 5 697 24 1 2.07 .922

International Year Team Event GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1996 Switzerland EJC 5 — — — — — — 3.95 .884 1997 Switzerland WJC 5 3 1 1 300 10 0 2.00 .917 1998 Switzerland WJC 6 4 2 0 379 10 0 1.58 .951 1998 Switzerland WC 7 2 4 1 376 18 0 2.87 .895 1999 Switzerland WC 4 1 3 0 173 13 1 4.51 .833 2002 Switzerland OLY 2 1 0 0 81 6 0 4.44 .806 2005 Switzerland WC 1 0 0 1 60 3 0 3.00 .903 2006 Switzerland OLY 4 1 0 2 200 7 0 2.10 .940 2006 Switzerland WC 6 2 2 2 359 16 0 2.67 .882 2007 Switzerland WC 1 0 1 0 60 6 0 6.00 .793 Senior totals 25 7 10 6 1309 69 1 3.16 .876