Michael Bitzer (born October 23, 1993) is a German-American professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Schwenninger Wild Wings of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). He was an All-American for Bemidji State.
Playing career After graduating from Moorhead High School, Bitzer played two seasons of junior hockey for the Lincoln Stars. He put up respectable if unspectacular numbers but was able to earn a scholarship to Bemidji State University. As soon as he debuted for the Beavers, Bitzer began to rewrite their record book. He finished 4th in the nation for goals against average as a freshman and was named as the WCHA Rookie of the Year, the only Beaver so honored. Both he and Bemidji State regressed slightly during his sophomore year but Bitzer rebounded in spectacular fashion as a junior. He posted some of the best goaltending numbers for the season and was named as a first team All-American. He led Bemidji State to a first-place finish in the WCHA and was named the league Player of the Year. Unfortunately, BSU lost in the conference semifinals and was left out of the NCAA Tournament.
After wrapping up his college career with a solid senior season, Bitzer signed with the Idaho Steelheads for the remainder of the 2018 season. That offseason, he signed with the Rapid City Rush but his tenure there proved to be short-lived. Bitzer did not perform well in his first full season as a pro and found himself relegated to being the team's third goaltender. On New Years Day, he was traded to the Atlanta Gladiators as a fulfilment of a previous trade. He improved a bit with his new surroundings but he was limited to just 9 games over the final three months of the season.
After the disappointing year, Bitzer travelled to Germany and spent two years with ETC Crimmitschau in the second German league. In October 2021, Bitzer signed a contract with the Wichita Thunder and was expecting to return to the ECHL. The arrangement ended up falling through, however, and Bitzer remained in Germany. He ended up signing with Selber Wölfe, who had just received a promotion to DEL2 from the Oberliga.
Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 2007–08 Moorhead High School MN-HS 8 4 2 1 – – 2 2.27 .902 — — — — — — — — 2008–09 Moorhead High School MN-HS 8 7 0 0 – – 2 1.98 .910 — — — — — — — — 2009–10 Moorhead High School MN-HS 10 5 2 0 – – 3 1.87 .920 2 1 1 — 2 1 1.00 .955 2010–11 Moorhead High School MN-HS 24 15 7 2 – – 3 2.06 .930 5 3 2 — — 1 1.41 .931 2011–12 Moorhead High School MN-HS 24 18 6 0 – – 5 2.02 .927 6 4 2 — 5 2 0.88 .963 2011–12 Alexandria Blizzard NAHL 4 3 0 1 241 8 1 2.00 .915 2 1 1 — 3 1 1.50 .958 2012–13 Lincoln Stars USHL 38 22 11 1 2023 91 1 2.70 .905 4 2 2 — 4 1 1.01 .972 2013–14 Lincoln Stars USHL 51 19 19 6 2801 148 0 3.17 .903 — — — — — — — — 2014–15 Bemidji State WCHA 28 14 11 3 1730 52 4 1.80 .929 — — — — — — — — 2015–16 Bemidji State WCHA 34 13 16 5 1946 70 6 2.16 .915 — — — — — — — — 2016–17 Bemidji State WCHA 39 22 14 3 2355 67 6 1.71 .932 — — — — — — — — 2017–18 Bemidji State WCHA 37 16 13 8 2196 82 5 2.24 .909 — — — — — — — — 2017–18 Idaho Steelheads ECHL 3 2 1 0 183 7 0 2.30 .887 — — — — — — — — 2018–19 Rapid City Rush ECHL 12 3 6 1 594 36 0 3.64 .882 — — — — — — — — 2018–19 Atlanta Gladiators ECHL 9 3 3 1 440 24 1 3.27 .887 — — — — — — — — 2019–20 ETC Crimmitschau DEL2 43 19 24 0 2587 147 0 3.41 .889 — — — — — — — — 2020–21 ETC Crimmitschau DEL2 29 16 11 0 1684 88 1 3.14 .897 — — — — — — — — 2021–22 Selber Wölfe DEL2 22 3 18 0 1259 65 1 3.10 .914 — — — — — — — — 2021–22 Bietigheim Steelers DEL 1 0 1 0 59 4 0 4.08 .878 — — — — — — — — 2022–23 Selber Wölfe DEL2 36 16 19 0 2029 105 2 3.10 .916 — — — — — — — — 2023–24 Selber Wölfe DEL2 37 13 20 0 2142 105 2 2.94 .921 — — — — — — — — 2024–25 Schwenninger Wild Wings DEL 14 5 7 0 774 42 1 3.26 .880 — — — — — — — — ECHL totals 24 8 10 2 1,217 67 1 3.30 .884 — — — — — — — — DEL totals 15 5 8 0 833 46 1 3.31 .880 — — — — — — — —
Awards and honors Award Year WCHA All-Rookie Team 2014–15 All-WCHA First Team 2016–17 AHCA West First Team All-American 2016–17 All-WCHA Second Team 2017–18
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