| Will Petschenig | |
| Played For: | Genève-Servette HC EHC Biel Fort Wayne Komets |
| Position: | Defense |
| Birth Date: | 3 February 1995 |
| Birth Place: | Manotick, Ontario, Canada |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 3 |
| Weight Lb: | 205 |
| Shoots: | Left |
| Draft: | Undrafted |
| Career Start: | 2016 |
| Career End: | 2020 |
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).
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.
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).[2]
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.[3]
On October 16, 2018, Petschenig was loaned to HC La Chaux-de-Fonds of the Swiss League.[4] On December 7, 2018, Petschenig, was traded by Geneva to EHC Biel for Mauro Dufner.[5] He appeared in 19 regular season games and 2 playoffs contests for Biel.[6]
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]
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]
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]
| Team | League | GP | 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 | ||||
| Award | Year | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| OHL | |||
| Dan Snyder Memorial Trophy | 2016 | ||
| CHL Humanitarian of the Year | 2016 | ||