Michele Strazzabosco

Michele Strazzabosco (born February 6, 1976) is an Italian former ice hockey defenseman. He played for two decades in the top Italian ice hockey league (Serie A) and was a member of the Italian national ice hockey team for a dozen years, including at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. Strazzabosco is considered one of the top native players in Italian ice hockey history.

Serie A Strazzabosco debuted in Italy's Serie A at the age of 17 in the 1993–94 season, playing for his hometown Asiago HC. He played there for 12 seasons before joining the H.C.J. Milano Vipers in 2005–06.

In the 2008–09 season, Strazzabosco joined Sportivi Ghiaccio Cortina. He went back to Asiago HC the following season, where he played until retiring at the end of the 2014–15 season.

He played in 793 games in Italy's top league during his career, tallying 68 goals and adding 211 assists. He also played in 89 playoff games, scoring 9 goals and 23 assists.

During his career, Strazzabosco was part of five Italian league championships for his hometown team, On September 19, he became the first Italian-trained player to appear in an NHL preseason game. Wearing No. 24 and paired with Sabres defenseman Michael Funk, Strazzabosco played just over 13 minutes in the game, a 4–1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. He spent two minutes in the penalty box for a hooking call.

Strazzabosco and Italian goaltender Thomas Tragust, who participated in the Sabres' developmental camp, had been recommended to Buffalo by goalie coach Jim Corsi and scout Jon Christiano. Corsi had been an assistant coach for the Italian national team during the 2006 Olympics, while Christiano was an assistant for Italy at that year's World Championships. According to Corsi, Strazzabosco had also attracted interest from the Detroit Red Wings and Vancouver Canucks. During his time with the Sabres organization, Strazzabosco said team co-captain Chris Drury was one of his biggest influences.

International Stazzabosco represented Italy at the highest level internationally in 170 games from 1998 to 2010, including 12 World Championships and the 2006 Winter Olympics, which the nation hosted. He also played in two European Junior Championships and three World Junior Championships. Another memorable goal came when he scored against the Canadian team in the 2010 IIHF World Championship.

Strazzabosco was expected to be part of Italy's team at the 2011 IIHF World Championship; however, he was removed from the team's roster along with two Asiago teammates (Enrico Miglioranzi and Federico Benetti) after they missed a training session following a late-night party celebrating Asiago's league championship.

Personal Following his playing career, Strazzabosco became a commentator for Asiago HC's streaming platform, Asiago.TV.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1993–94 HC Asiago ITA 9 0 1 1 8 — — — — — 1994–95 HC Asiago ITA 33 2 7 9 62 — — — — — 1995–96 Rayside–Balfour Sabrecats NOJHL 26 6 21 27 43 — — — — — 1996–97 HC Asiago ITA.2 16 1 3 4 14 — — — — — 1997–98 HC Asiago ITA 43 4 7 11 112 — — — — — 1998–99 HC Asiago ITA 29 4 4 8 87 — — — — — 1999–2000 HC Asiago ITA 46 11 22 33 60 — — — — — 2000–01 HC Asiago ITA 37 1 13 14 71 10 2 4 6 24 2001–02 HC Asiago ITA 38 2 5 7 87 4 0 0 0 2 2002–03 HC Asiago ITA 38 3 8 11 108 11 1 0 1 14 2003–04 HC Asiago ITA 42 2 9 11 46 11 1 2 3 49 2004–05 HC Asiago ITA 33 1 7 8 62 9 2 4 6 26 2005–06 Milano Vipers ITA 47 5 10 15 80 7 1 3 4 12 2006–07 Milano Vipers ITA 32 6 13 19 77 9 2 2 4 20 2007–08 Milano Vipers ITA 38 2 11 13 58 9 1 0 1 18 2008–09 SG Cortina ITA 42 4 17 21 52 4 0 2 2 4 2009–10 HC Asiago ITA 40 4 12 16 92 15 2 3 5 30 2010–11 HC Asiago ITA 40 2 10 12 62 17 1 3 4 16 2011–12 HC Asiago ITA 44 2 8 10 88 4 0 0 0 6 2012–13 HC Asiago ITA 36 4 15 19 26 15 1 5 6 14 2013–14 HC Asiago ITA 40 3 9 12 38 11 0 3 3 8 2014–15 HC Asiago ITA 17 0 5 5 10 18 0 2 2 12 ITA totals 724 62 193 255 1286 154 14 33 47 255

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 1992 Italy EJC B 1st (B) 5 0 0 0 8 1993 Italy WJC B 3rd (B) 5 0 0 0 4 1993 Italy EJC 8th 6 0 1 1 4 1994 Italy WJC B 5th (B) 7 1 1 2 8 1994 Italy EJC B 5th (B) 4 1 1 2 22 1995 Italy WJC B 8th (B) 7 2 0 2 20 1996 Italy WJC B 5th (B) 6 0 0 0 10 1998 Italy WC 10th 6 0 1 1 2 1999 Italy WC 13th 3 0 0 0 0 1999 Italy WC Q Q 3 0 0 0 2 2000 Italy OGQ DNQ 3 0 3 3 2 2000 Italy WC 12th 5 0 0 0 10 2001 Italy WC 12th 6 0 0 0 6 2002 Italy WC 15th 6 0 0 0 2 2003 Italy WC D1 4th (D1) 5 0 2 2 4 2004 Italy WC D1 2nd (D1) 5 1 3 4 4 2005 Italy WC D1 1st (D1) 5 0 2 2 4 2006 Italy OG 11th 5 0 0 0 10 2006 Italy WC 14th 6 1 0 1 18 2007 Italy WC 12th 6 0 1 1 6 2008 Italy WC 16th 4 0 1 1 10 2009 Italy OGQ DNQ 3 0 1 1 10 2009 Italy WC D1 1st (D1) 5 0 2 2 2 2010 Italy WC 15th 6 2 0 2 10 Junior totals 40 4 3 7 76 Senior totals 82 4 16 20 104