Mike Fountain

Michael Fountain (born January 26, 1972) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Vancouver Canucks, Carolina Hurricanes, and Ottawa Senators. He also played several seasons in the American Hockey League (AHL), as well as in the Russian Superleague. Since retiring as a player, he became an Assistant Coach for the Team Canada Para Hockey Team.

Playing career Fountain grew up in the small town of Gravenhurst, Ontario. As a 15-year-old, Fountain played Jr.C. hockey for the Hunstville Blair McCanns in 1988-89. He was named rookie of the year and made the All Star Team. Fountain was drafted in the 15th round of the 1989 OHL Draft by the S.S. Marie Greyhounds.

After being drafted by the Greyhounds, he was assigned to the Chatham Micmacs Jr.B. hockey club in 1989-90 where he was teammates with future NHL players Todd Warriner and Brian Wiseman. The Micmacs won the Western JR B Championship

Fountain played two seasons of junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League with the Oshawa Generals and was named to the OHL First All-Star team in 1992. He was also one of the netminders for Canada at that year's World Junior Championships. Following his junior success, Fountain was selected 45th overall in the 1992 NHL entry draft by the Vancouver Canucks.

Fountain turned pro for the 1992–93 season, and was assigned to the Hamilton Canucks of the American Hockey League. He played for the Syracuse Crunch from 94-97 with a GA of 3.2. http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=1754 He established himself as one of the top goalies outside of the NHL with a standout 1993–94 campaign, during which he led the AHL with 70 appearances, 34 wins, and 4 shutouts, and was named to the league's Second All-Star Team.

However, cracking the NHL would be difficult for Fountain. Just as it appeared he was ready to succeed Kay Whitmore as the backup to Kirk McLean with the Canucks, the team acquired highly rated Corey Hirsch, who passed Fountain on the depth chart and was promoted directly to the NHL. Fountain proceeded to toil for two more seasons in the AHL without getting an NHL opportunity. He was finally able to make his NHL debut midway through the 1996–97 season, and did so in memorable style. He became the 19th goalie in NHL history to record a shutout in his first NHL game, doing so against the New Jersey Devils, and nearly scored a goal as well, sending the puck just a few feet wide of the empty net late in the game. He finished the year with a 2–2–0 record and a 3.43 GAA in 6 appearances.

Fountain left Vancouver to sign as a free agent with the Carolina Hurricanes for the 1997–98. He signed with the Ottawa Senators in 1999 and spent two seasons with the organization as their third goaltender, appearing in one NHL game in both years while performing well in the IHL and setting standards no Griffins goalie has attained since. He was named an IHL All Star in 2000/2001 season.

In 2001, Fountain left North America to sign in the Russian Super League with HC Lada Togliatti and led the RHL in GAA in his first season. He also set the all time Russian shutout record with 14 shutouts in 43 starts. After two years in Russia, he signed in Germany for 2003–04 with the Iserlohn Roosters. He returned to Russia in 2005, playing for Traktor Chelyabinsk, where he won the Russian Championship and was named MVP before re-joining Lada Togliatti in 2006.

In all, Fountain appeared in 11 NHL games, posting a 2–6–0 record with a 3.47 GAA.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1988–89 Huntsville Huskies GMOHL 22 18 3 2 1306 82 0 3.77 — — — — — — — — — 1989–90 Chatham MicMac WOHL 21 — — — 1249 76 0 3.65 — — — — — — — — — 1990–91 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds OHL 7 5 2 0 380 19 0 3.00 .898 — — — — — — — — 1990–91 Oshawa Generals OHL 30 17 5 1 1483 84 0 3.40 .887 8 1 4 292 26 0 5.34 — 1991–92 Oshawa Generals OHL 40 18 13 6 2260 149 1 3.96 .890 7 3 4 429 26 0 3.64 — 1992–93 Hamilton Canucks AHL 12 2 8 0 618 46 0 4.47 .862 — — — — — — — — 1992–93 Canada National Team Intl 13 7 5 1 745 37 1 2.98 — — — — — — — — — 1993–94 Hamilton Canucks AHL 70 34 28 6 4005 241 4 3.61 .886 3 0 2 146 12 0 4.92 .782 1994–95 Syracuse Crunch AHL 61 25 29 7 3618 225 2 3.73 .887 — — — — — — — — 1995–96 Syracuse Crunch AHL 54 21 27 3 3060 184 1 3.61 .887 15 8 7 915 57 2 3.74 .884 1996–97 Vancouver Canucks NHL 6 2 2 0 245 14 1 3.43 .896 — — — — — — — — 1996–97 Syracuse Crunch AHL 25 8 14 2 1462 78 1 3.20 .891 2 0 2 120 12 0 6.02 .797 1997–98 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 3 0 3 0 163 10 0 3.68 .853 — — — — — — — — 1997–98 Beast of New Haven AHL 50 25 19 5 2992 139 3 2.85 .903 — — — — — — — — 1998–99 Beast of New Haven AHL 51 23 24 3 2989 150 2 3.01 .914 — — — — — — — — 1999–00 Ottawa Senators NHL 1 0 0 0 16 1 0 3.87 .833 — — — — — — — — 1999–00 Grand Rapids Griffins IHL 36 21 7 4 1851 77 3 2.50 .910 1 0 0 20 4 0 12.00 .714 2000–01 Ottawa Senators NHL 1 0 1 0 59 3 0 3.07 .880 — — — — — — — — 2000–01 Grand Rapids Griffins IHL 52 34 10 6 3005 104 6 2.08 .924 8 5 3 522 21 1 2.41 .908 2001–02 Lada Togliatti RSL 43 — — — 2591 59 14 1.37 .931 4 — — 249 7 0 1.69 .915 2002–03 Lada Togliatti RSL 21 — — — 1028 31 5 1.81 .926 3 — — 40 2 0 3.00 .913 2003–04 Iserlohn Roosters DEL 34 — — — 1957 104 2 3.19 .899 — — — — — — — — 2004–05 Motor City Mechanics UHL 3 0 3 0 178 10 0 3.38 .907 — — — — — — — — 2005–06 Traktor Chelyabinsk RSL 39 — — — — — — 1.24 .931 — — — — — — — — 2006–07 Lada Togliatti RSL 16 — — — 845 32 3 2.27 .910 — — — — — — — — 2007–08 Lada Togliatti RSL 54 — — — — 132 3 2.55 .908 4 — — — 12 0 3.01 .879 2008–09 Lada Togliatti KHL 14 — — — 638 28 0 2.63 .905 — — — — — — — — NHL totals 11 2 6 0 482 28 1 3.49 .880 — — — — — — — —