Mike Bales

Mike Bales
Date of birth	August 6, 1971
place of birth	Prince Albert , Saskatchewan , Canada
size	185 cm
Weight	80 kg
position	goalkeeper
number	#1
Catch hand	Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft	1990 , 5th lap, 105th position Boston Bruins
Career stations
1988-1989	Estevan Bruins
1989-1992	Ohio State University
1992-1994	Providence Bruins
1994-1996	Prince Edward Island Senators
1996-1997	Baltimore Bandits
1997-1998	Rochester Americans
1998-2000	Michigan K-Wings
2000-2001	Utah grizzlies
2001-2002	Belfast Giants
2002-2003	ERC Ingolstadt
2003-2004	Leksands IF
2004-2010	Straubing Tigers

Michael Raymond "Mike" Bales (born August 6, 1971 in Prince Albert , Saskatchewan ) is a former Canadian ice hockey goalkeeper who played in the National Hockey League for the Boston Bruins and the Ottawa Senators . Since June 2019 he has been working as an assistant trainer for the Buffalo Sabers .

Career

Mike Bales in the Straubing Tigers jersey

Bales was drawn 105th in round 5 of the 1990 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins . In Boston, however, the goalkeeper could only prove himself in one NHL game, so he left the Bruins organization after the 1993/94 season . After joining the Ottawa Senators , Bales made 22 more appearances in the NHL in three years, but spent most of his time with the Senators' farm team on Prince Edward Island . Until 2001, the Canadian played in North America with the farm teams of the Buffalo Sabers (1997/98) and Dallas Stars (1998-2001) in the American Hockey League and the International Hockey League , but then moved to the Belfast Giants in the British Elite Ice Hockey League . For the 2002/03 season , the 1.85 m tall goalie was signed by ERC Ingolstadt . After a year in Sweden at Leksands IF , he came to the German second division Straubing Tigers in the 2004/05 season .

In his first season with the Tigers, Bales was runner-up in the 2nd Bundesliga . A year later, the goalkeeper and the team made it to the championship and thus promotion to the German Ice Hockey League . On September 30, 2005, in a game between the Straubing Tigers and the Landshut Cannibals, shortly before the end of the game , the Canadian achieved a so-called empty net goal , an absolute rarity for a goalkeeper in ice hockey.

Bales, whose nickname was "The Wall" because of his often spectacular parades , extended his contract with the Straubing Tigers by three years in December 2006. After six years in Straubing, his contract was not renewed after the 2009/10 season, and Bales left the Tigers. In January 2011 he was hired by the Iserlohn Roosters after being out of a club for around ten months. Mike Bales was signed by the Roosters as a standby goalkeeper to arrive from North America in the event of a possible injury to regular goalkeeper Manny Legace . However, since Legace remained injury-free, Bales did not come to Iserlohn.

In July 2011, Bales was introduced as the goalkeeping coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins . In the same position, he moved to the Carolina Hurricanes for the 2017/18 season . In June 2019, he was introduced as the new assistant coach of Ralph Krueger at the Buffalo Sabers .

Achievements and Awards

• 2002 All-Star-Game of the British EIHL
• 2002 Best Goalkeeper in the British EIHL
• 2005 Best goalkeeper in the German 2nd ice hockey Bundesliga

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Straubinger Tagblatt of December 13, 2006
2. ↑ It's time to say goodbye: Mike Bales says goodbye to Straubing after six years with a win
3. ↑ Roosters commit stand-by goalie ( memento of the original from July 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ Penguin's name Mike Bales Goaltender Development Coach

Web links

Commons : Mike Bales  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Mike Bales at eurohockey.com
• Mike Bales at hockeygoalies.org