William "Will" Petschenig (born February 3, 1995) is a retired Canadian-Swiss professional ice hockey defenseman. Among the professional teams he played for are EHC Biel and Genève-Servette HC of the National League (NL) as well as HC La Chaux-de-Fonds of the Swiss League (SL).

Will Petschenig
Born (1995-02-03) February 3, 1995 (age 29)
Manotick, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Position Defense
Shot Left
Played for Genève-Servette HC
EHC Biel
Fort Wayne Komets
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 2016–2020

Playing career

edit

Petschenig was born in Manotick, Ontario. After representing the Upper Canada Cyclones and after a short stint with the Nepean Raiders, Petschenig joined the Cornwall Colts of the Central Canada Hockey League for the 2011-12 season. From 2012 to 2015, he spent time with the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and helped win the J. Ross Robertson Cup in 2015.[1] A broken arm forced him to sit out, when his team captured the Memorial Cup the same year. Petschenig won several community service awards while playing for the Generals over his 3 seasons with the club. After the season, he was traded to the Saginaw Spirit, where he spent his final OHL season.[2]

Petschenig signed his first professional contract on May 19, 2016, putting pen to paper on a two-year deal with Genève-Servette HC of the Swiss top-flight National League A (NLA).[3]

In December 2017, Petschenig represented Team Canada at the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland. Petschenig and Team Canada won gold, as this was the last tournament before the 2018 Winter Olympics.[4]

On October 16, 2018, Petschenig was loaned to HC La Chaux-de-Fonds of the Swiss League.[5] On December 7, 2018, Petschenig, was traded by Geneva to EHC Biel for Mauro Dufner.[6] He appeared in 19 regular season games and 2 playoffs contests for Biel.[2]

On August 26, 2019, Petschenig signed his first professional contract in North America, agreeing to a deal with the Fort Wayne Komets of the ECHL for the 2019–20 season.[7] He registered 2 assists in 26 games before he was claimed off waivers by the Kalamazoo Wings on March 10, 2020, before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19. Petschenig retired in December 2020.[8]

Lacrosse

edit

He became a coach in the Ontario Lacrosse Association. On October 11, 2022, he was named general manager and head coach of the Whitby Steelhawks of the Arena Lacrosse League.[9]

Personal

edit

He received the All Weather Windows Humanitarian of the Year Award[10] and the Dan Snyder Memorial Trophy for OHL Humanitarian of the Year in May 2016.[11] Petschenig had created the programme "A Heart Like Mine" for kids who have lost a parent in memory of his father Dan, a former football player for the Toronto Argonauts[12] who died in 2013.[13]

Career statistics

edit
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2011–12 Cornwall Colts CCHL 53 5 11 16 64 15 1 0 1 8
2012–13 Oshawa Generals OHL 52 3 14 17 25 1 0 2 2 4
2013–14 Oshawa Generals OHL 68 3 22 25 84 12 0 3 3 12
2014–15 Oshawa Generals OHL 45 5 21 26 43 18 2 7 9 22
2015–16 Saginaw Spirit OHL 68 8 22 30 129 4 3 1 4 19
2016–17 Genève-Servette HC NLA 50 3 7 10 28 4 0 0 0 12
2017–18 Genève-Servette HC NL 48 5 5 10 34 5 0 1 1 4
2018–19 Genève-Servette HC NL 7 1 4 5 12
2018–19 HC La Chaux-de-Fonds SL 7 3 5 8 4
2018–19 EHC Biel NL 19 2 10 12 18 2 0 0 0 0
2019–20 Fort Wayne Komets ECHL 26 1 16 17 45
NL totals 125 11 26 37 72 19 0 1 1 26

Awards and honours

edit
Award Year
OHL
Dan Snyder Memorial Trophy 2016 [11]
CHL Humanitarian of the Year 2016

References

edit
  1. ^ "Trophées de la OHL - Ligue Junior Ontario de Hockey | Marqueur.com". www.marqueur.com. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
  2. ^ a b "Will Petschenig at eliteprospects.com". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  3. ^ Club, www.gshc.ch, GSHC - Site officiel du Genève-Servette Hockey. "Will Petschenig devient Grenat - Genève-Servette Hockey Club". www.gshc.ch. Retrieved 2016-05-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ "2017 Spengler Cup". www.hockeycanada.ca. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
  5. ^ Club, www gshc ch, GSHC-Site officiel du Genève-Servette Hockey. "Will Petschenig prêté au HCC - Genève-Servette Hockey Club". www.gshc.ch (in French). Retrieved 2020-02-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "Will Petschenig à Bienne, Mauro Dufner à Genève". Planète Hockey (in Swiss French). Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  7. ^ "Komets add pair to preseason roster". Fort Wayne Komets. August 26, 2019. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  8. ^ "Ehemaliger NL-Profi hat im Alter von 25 Jahren genug von einer Profikarriere". sport.ch. 2020-12-08. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
  9. ^ "News: Will Petschenig named GM and Head Coach of Whitby Steelhawks". Arena Lacrosse League. 2022-10-22. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
  10. ^ "CHL announces 2015-16 Award winners". CHL Network. 28 May 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-30.
  11. ^ a b "Spirit's Will Petschenig named OHL Humanitarian of the Year". MiHockey - MiHockeyNow & MiHockeyMag. 17 May 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
  12. ^ "Spirit's Will Petschenig giving back in honour of father - Sportsnet.ca". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
  13. ^ "A Heart Like Mine – Saginaw Spirit". saginawspirit.com. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
edit