Shot Right Role Ice hockey player Career end 1984 Height 1.91 m | Playing career Weight 91 kg Position Forward Name Mike Busniuk Career start 1974 | |
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NHL Draft 67th overall, 1971Montreal Canadiens | ||
Mike busniuk vs chris nilan jan 24 1981
Michael P. Busniuk (born December 13, 1951 in Thunder Bay, Ontario) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. He is the younger brother of Ron Busniuk, who played for the Buffalo Sabres.
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Busniuk was selected 67th overall, in the 5th round of the 1971 NHL Draft, by the Montreal Canadiens.
His junior career was played in Thunder Bay for the Fort William Canadiens. Upon leaving junior hockey, Busniuk continued his career at the University of Denver (1970–1974) where his team made the Final Four three of the four years he attended the school.
Busniuk’s professional hockey career highlights consisted of three seasons with the AHL team, Nova Scotia Voyageurs prior to moving to Maine to play for the very successful, Maine Mariners. His career in Maine, landed him four Calder Cup Championships, the only player in AHL history to win that many. Upon graduating from the AHL, Busniuk played for the NHL Philadelphia Flyers for two seasons between 1979 and 1981, helping the Flyers reach the [[Stanley Cup]] Final, where they lost in six games to the New York Islanders. He finished with three goals and 23 assists in 143 games, to go with 297 penalty minutes.
Since retiring as an active player, Busniuk moved behind the bench, first as assistant coach for New York Rangers' AHL teams in Binghamton, N.Y. and Hartford, Conn., returning to Binghamton to serve with the Ottawa Senators' AHL team. In 2000, as an assistant with the Hartford Wolf Pack, Busniuk won another Calder Cup, giving him five in his playing and coaching career. His head-coaching career consisted of one year for the International Hockey League's Muskegon Fury in 2002-03, where he posted a 38-29-9 record. Busniuk then served as an assistant coach for the Binghamton Senators of the American Hockey League from 2003 to 2010.
Busniuk then returned home to Thunder Bay, where he served in a similar capacity with the Lakehead Thunderwolves, eventually filling in as an interim coach after Joel Scherban was fired four games into the 2012-13 season. He also taught at Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School, an all First Nations school in Thunder Bay.
In 2013 Busniuk returned to Europe where he is the head coach of the Italian League, HC Pustertal Wolfe Professional Hockey Team, the same team he played for from 1982-1985.