Michel Riesen

Michel Riesen (born April 11, 1979) is a Swiss former professional ice hockey winger. Most of his career, which lasted from 1994 to 2014, was spent in the Swiss Nationalliga A, though he also played 12 games in the National Hockey League with the Edmonton Oilers during the 2000–01 season. Internationally Riesen played for the Swiss national team in several junior tournaments and three World Championships. After retiring he turned to coaching and has worked at the junior level in Switzerland since 2015.

Playing career He was selected in the first round of the 1997 NHL entry draft, 14th overall, by the Edmonton Oilers. At the time he was the highest-drafted Swiss player in NHL history.

Riesen was twice a member of Switzerland's World Junior team (1997, 1998) and a member of its World Championship team (1998). Riesen made his North American debut on the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs team in 1998–99. Riesen played three seasons in Hamilton with his best season being in 1999–00 when he registered 60 points (29G-31A).

Riesen made his NHL debut in the 2000–01 season with the Oilers, playing in 12 games in what would be his only NHL season. On July 1, 2001, Riesen was traded from the Oilers, along with Doug Weight, to the St. Louis Blues for Marty Reasoner, Jochen Hecht and Jan Horacek. Riesen never played for the Blues, opting to head back to Switzerland for the 2001–02 season to rejoin HC Davos.

In the 2006-07 season, Riesen was the top goal scorer in the NLA with 37 goals.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1994–95 EHC Biel SUI-U20 — — — — — — — — — — 1994–95 EHC Biel NDA 12 0 2 2 0 — — — — — 1995–96 EHC Biel SUI U20 — — — — — — — — — — 1995–96 EHC Biel NLB 34 9 6 15 2 3 1 0 1 0 1996–97 EHC Biel NLB 38 16 16 32 49 — — — — — 1997–98 HC Davos NDA 32 16 9 25 8 18 5 5 10 4 1997–98 EHC St. Moritz SUI-3 1 1 0 1 — — — — — — 1998–99 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 60 6 17 23 6 3 0 0 0 0 1999–00 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 73 29 31 60 20 10 3 5 8 4 2000–01 Edmonton Oilers NHL 12 0 1 1 4 — — — — — 2000–01 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 69 26 28 54 14 — — — — — 2001–02 HC Davos NLA 35 12 12 24 28 16 7 8 15 52 2002–03 HC Davos NLA 44 17 17 34 30 16 3 6 9 8 2003–04 HC Davos NLA 47 16 13 29 14 6 1 2 3 4 2004–05 HC Davos NLA 44 18 14 32 8 15 3 3 6 6 2005–06 HC Davos NLA 39 17 12 29 18 15 9 3 12 8 2006–07 HC Davos NLA 44 37 14 51 70 15 5 4 9 37 2007–08 HC Davos NLA 39 13 17 30 18 11 6 3 9 8 2008–09 HC Davos NLA 50 24 17 41 32 21 9 3 12 4 2009–10 Rapperswil–Jona Lakers NLA 41 11 18 29 12 — — — — — 2010–11 Rapperswil–Jona Lakers NLA 46 9 10 19 16 — — — — — 2011–12 Rapperswil–Jona Lakers NLA 35 7 11 18 4 — — — — — 2012–13 Rapperswil–Jona Lakers NLA 47 13 10 23 30 — — — — — 2013–14 EHC Basel NLB 33 7 9 16 8 5 2 1 3 0 NDA/NLA totals 555 210 176 386 288 133 48 37 85 131 NHL totals 12 0 1 1 4 — — — — —

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1994 Switzerland EJC 5 1 0 1 0 1995 Switzerland EJC 5 3 1 4 2 1996 Switzerland WJC 6 1 0 1 0 1997 Switzerland WJC 6 4 1 5 8 1997 Switzerland EJC 6 6 1 7 2 1998 Switzerland WJC 7 4 1 5 0 1998 Switzerland WC 2 0 1 1 0 1999 Switzerland WJC 6 0 4 4 4 2000 Switzerland WC 1 1 0 1 2 2001 Switzerland WC 6 3 1 4 0 Junior totals 41 19 8 27 16 Senior totals 9 4 2 6 2