Canadian-Swiss ice hockey player
Ice hockey player
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).
Playing career
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
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
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]
