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Michael Ferland
Born (1992-04-20)April 20, 1992,
Swan River, MB, CAN
Height
Weight
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
225 lb (102 kg; 16 st 1 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shoots Left
NHL team Calgary Flames
NHL Draft 133rd overall, 2010
Calgary Flames
Playing career 2012–present


Michael Ferland (born April 20, 1992) is a Canadian professional ice hockey winger currently playing for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was a fifth round selection of the Flames, 133rd overall at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

Early life

Ferland was born April 20, 1992, in Swan River, Manitoba.[1] He is the middle of three children – he has an older sister and a younger brother – raised alone by his mother Dianne who worked as a dietary aide at a nursing home in Swan River.[2] Michael played house league hockey from age eight to 15 before earning the attention of the midget AAA Brandon Wheat Kings; he was given a try-out and earned a place with the team.[3] Dianne struggled to fund her son's hockey dream; she required support from charities such as KidSport and the Manitoba Métis Foundation to help pay for his equipment. Dianne also credited her eldest daughter, Samantha, who was never able to play competitive sports herself as the family was unable to support more than one child in the sport.[2] When Michael made the midget Wheat Kings team, the parents of his Swan River teammates helped pay his enrollment fees.[3]

Playing career

At age 17, Ferland joined the major junior Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL).[3] He scored 9 goals and 28 points in 61 games during the 2009–10 regular season.[1] He also appeared in 15 playoff games for Brandon, and played an additional five in the 2010 Memorial Cup.[1] The Calgary Flames selected him with their fifth round pick, 133rd overall, at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.[4] Ferland remained with Brandon for the following two seasons where he recorded 56 points in 2010–11 then finished ninth in WHL scoring with 96 points in 2011–12.[1][5]

In the off-season prior to the 2012–13 season, Ferland was charged with assault following a bar fight in Cochrane, Alberta.[6] He began his professional career as he awaited trial as the Flames assigned Ferland to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Abbotsford Heat. He arrived to training camp in poor condition and struggled with Abbotsford. After seven games, he was demoted to the ECHL's Utah Grizzlies for just three games before the Flames returned him to junior hockey and the Brandon Wheat Kings.[7] His stay with the Wheat Kings was similarly short as Brandon traded Ferland to the Saskatoon Blades; as he struggled, the 20-year-old Ferland became discouraged and considered quitting hockey entirely.[4] Ferland persevered and played a pivotal role with the Blades as they won 18 consecutive games and reached the 2013 Memorial Cup.[7]

The Flames worked with Ferland throughout as they attempted to guide his career forward. During the 2012–13 season, coach Bob Hartley connected Ferland with former NHL and fellow aboriginal player Gino Odjick to help his transition to professional hockey.[8] Ferland returned to Abbotsford for the 2013–14 AHL season 24 pounds lighter than the 234 pounds he weighed the previous season.[7] He recorded 18 points in 25 games for the Heat before suffering a knee injury on December 12, 2013 that ended his season.[9] Ferland's assault charge proceeded to trial over the summer and a jury found that he had acted in self-defence in acquitting him.[10]

Ferland had been considered a candidate to be recalled to Calgary prior to suffering his knee injury; the team had intended to recall him to the Flames as a reward for his work in Abbotsford at the time he was hurt.[8] After returning to health in time for the team's training camp prior to the 2014–15 NHL season, Ferland continued to impress the team's coaches with both his scoring ability and physical play.[11] He did not make the roster out of camp; he was assigned to the Adirondack Flames to start the season. He led Adirondack with four goals and five assists in nine games when an injury to Mikael Backlund led the Flames to recall Ferland to Calgary on October 30, 2014.[12] He made his NHL debut the following night in a 4–3 victory over the Nashville Predators, but was himself injured and missed the following eight games after being hit with an elbow to the head by Anton Volchenkov.[8] Volchenkov received a four game suspension for the hit.[13] Ferland recorded his first NHL point on November 22, 2014, with an assist on a goal by Josh Jooris in a 5–4 victory over the New Jersey Devils.[14]

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2009–10 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 61 9 19 28 85 15 3 1 4 8
2010–11 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 56 23 33 56 110 6 4 2 6 4
2011–12 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 69 47 49 96 84 8 3 3 6 6
2012–13 Abbotsford Heat AHL 7 0 0 0 10
2012–13 Utah Grizzlies ECHL 3 0 1 1 5
2012–13 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 4 1 1 2 4
2012–13 Saskatoon Blades WHL 26 8 21 29 18 4 0 0 0 2
2013–14 Abbotsford Heat AHL 25 6 12 18 31
AHL totals 32 6 12 18 41

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Michael Ferland player card. National Hockey League. Retrieved on 2014-10-30.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Odland, Kristen. "Ferland completes long road to big league debut", Calgary Herald, 2014-11-01, p. D4. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Hall, Vicki. "Beating the odds; Flames prospect Michael Ferland is living his dream at World Juniors selection camp thanks to his mother's hard work and sacrifice", Calgary Herald, 2011-12-12, p. D1. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 Cruickshank, Scott. "Determined Ferland's lively play turns heads", Calgary Herald, 2013-09-09, p. D3. 
  5. (2013) 2013–14 WHL Guide. Western Hockey League, 212. 
  6. Martin, Kevin. "Girlfriend of Calgary Flames’ prospect Michael Ferland defends "sucker punched" claim", Calgary Sun, 2014-06-12. Retrieved on 2014-10-30. 
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Gilbertson, Wes. "Calgary Flames' Michael Ferland gets a second chance", Calgary Sun, 2013-09-07. Retrieved on 2014-10-30. 
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Gilbertson, Wes. "Battle tested", Calgary Sun, 2014-11-23, pp. S4–S5. 
  9. Peterson, Torie. "Ferland to miss the rest of the season due to injury", Calgary Flames Hockey Club, 2014-01-19. Retrieved on 2014-10-30. 
  10. Slade, Darryl. "Flames prospect cleared of assault charges by jury", Calgary Herald, 2014-06-17. Retrieved on 2014-10-30. 
  11. Gilbertson, Wes. "Ferland on fire", Calgary Sun, 2014-09-29, p. S3. Retrieved on 2014-10-30. 
  12. "Flames place F Backlund on IR", The Sports Network, 2014-10-30. Retrieved on 2014-10-30. 
  13. "Predators D Volchenkov suspended for 4 games", Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 2014-11-02. Retrieved on 2014-11-27. 
  14. Gilbertson, Wes. "No deal, Devils", Calgary Sun, 2014-11-23. Retrieved on 2014-11-27. 

External links


This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Micheal Ferland. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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