Mike Rathje

Date of Birth: May 11, 1974
Age: 52
Place of Birth: Buffalo, NY, USA
Nation: Canada
Youth Team: -
Position: D
Height: 196 cm / 6'5"
Weight: 107 kg / 236 lbs
Shoots: L
Status: Retired

Mike Rathje Facts

Drafted: 1992 round 1 #3 overall by San Jose Sharks

Rathje was a skilled defensive-minded rearguard. He was a huge piece of business and used his tremendous reach effectively. With the Sharks, he often played on the same pairing as Marcus Ragnarsson.

He was not typical blue line big man. He had no mean streak and he was never going put a guy into the first row with thunderous bodychecks. He was very strong, able to handle top power forwards. But the strength of his game was his surprising skating ability, blessed with mobility and a burst of speed. Combined with excellent positioning Rathje could keep up with the top speedsters. Unfortunately, Rathje's career was cut short by chronic hip and back problems. He never officially retired and spent 2007 to 2010 on the Flyers' long-term injured reserve list.

Team Staff profile also available: Mike Rathje

Fans expected him to kill people because of his size and presence on the ice.
— Dan Rusanowsky 2010

I really had to sacrifice in order to get into good condition — (time with) family, friends, everything. But eventually the work did pay off
— Mike Rathje 2010

He was always in position and incredibly hard to move or get around.
— Dan Rusanowsky 2010

You should only focus on what you can control. The skills follow once you can get control of your head.
— Mike Rathje 2010

Mike Rathje Statistics

									Post
1989-1990	Sherwood Park Kings U18 AAA	AMHL	33	6	11	17	30	-	Playoffs	6	1	1	2	2	-
1990-1991	Medicine Hat Tigers	WHL	64	1	16	17	28	-	Playoffs	12	0	4	4	2	-
1991-1992	Medicine Hat Tigers	WHL	67	11	23	34	99	-	Playoffs	4	0	1	1	2	-
1992-1993	Medicine Hat Tigers	WHL	57	2	37	49	103	-	Playoffs	10	3	3	6	12	-
1992-1993	Kansas City Blades	IHL	0	0	0	0	0	-	Playoffs	5	0	0	0	12	-3
1992-1993	Canada U20	WJC-20	7	2	2	4	14	-1
1993-1994	San Jose Sharks	NHL	47	1	9	10	59	-9	Playoffs	1	0	0	0	0	1
1993-1994	Kansas City Blades	IHL	6	0	2	2	0	-4
1994-1995	San Jose Sharks	NHL	42	2	7	9	29	-1	Playoffs	11	5	2	7	4	-15
1994-1995	Kansas City Blades	IHL	6	0	1	1	7	-3
1995-1996	San Jose Sharks	NHL	27	0	7	7	14	-16
1995-1996	Kansas City Blades	IHL	36	6	11	17	34	3
1996-1997	San Jose Sharks	NHL	31	0	8	8	21	-1
1997-1998	San Jose Sharks	NHL	81	3	12	15	59	-4	Playoffs	6	1	0	1	6	-3
1998-1999	San Jose Sharks	NHL	82	5	9	14	36	15	Playoffs	6	0	0	0	4	-6
1999-2000	San Jose Sharks	NHL	66	2	14	16	31	-2	Playoffs	12	1	3	4	8	1
2000-2001	San Jose Sharks	NHL	81	0	11	11	48	7	Playoffs	6	0	1	1	4	2
2001-2002	San Jose Sharks	NHL	52	5	12	17	48	23	Playoffs	12	1	3	4	6	5
2002-2003	San Jose Sharks	NHL	82	7	22	29	48	-19
2003-2004	San Jose Sharks	NHL	80	2	17	19	46	18	Playoffs	17	1	5	6	13	1
2004-2005	Did not play		-	-	-	-	-	-
2005-2006	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL	79	3	21	24	46	22	Playoffs	6	0	0	0	6	-1
2006-2007	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL	18	0	1	1	6	-7
2007-2008	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL	0	0	0	0	0	0
2008-2009	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL	0	0	0	0	0	0
2009-2010	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL	0	0	0	0	0	0

Mike Rathje Tournament Statistics

									Post
1990-1991	Team Alberta	CWG	-	-	-	-	-	-
1991-1992	Canada U18	Phoenix Cup	6	0	2	2	8	-

Mike Rathje Career Totals by League


AMHL (AEHL U18)	1	33	6	11	17	0.52	30	-	1	6	1	1	2	0.33	2	-
CWG	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0
IHL	4	48	6	14	20	0.42	41	-4	1	5	0	0	0	0.00	12	-3
NHL	16	768	30	150	180	0.23	491	26	9	77	9	14	23	0.30	51	-15
Phoenix Cup (Hlinka Gretzky Cup)	1	6	0	2	2	0.33	8	-	0
WHL	3	188	14	76	100	0.53	230	-	3	26	3	8	11	0.42	16	-
WJC-20	1	7	2	2	4	0.57	14	-1	0

* Some data is missing to provide a correct summary.

Mike Rathje Career Totals by Team


Canada U18 (Cup)	1	6	0	2	2	0.33	8	-	0
Canada U20	1	7	2	2	4	0.57	14	-1	0
Kansas City Blades	4	48	6	14	20	0.42	41	-4	1	5	0	0	0	0.00	12	-3
Medicine Hat Tigers	3	188	14	76	100	0.53	230	-	3	26	3	8	11	0.42	16	-
Philadelphia Flyers	5	97	3	22	25	0.26	52	15	1	6	0	0	0	0.00	6	-1
San Jose Sharks	11	671	27	128	155	0.23	439	11	8	71	9	14	23	0.32	45	-14
Sherwood Park Kings U18 AAA	1	33	6	11	17	0.52	30	-	1	6	1	1	2	0.33	2	-
Team Alberta (CWG)	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0

* Some data is missing to provide a correct summary.

Mike Rathje Career Highlights

Season	Awards
1991-1992	WHL (East) Second All-Star Team
1992-1993	CHL Second All-Star Team U20 WJC Gold Medal WHL (East) Second All-Star Team

Mike Rathje Biography and Trivia

Cult/Star player for San Jose Sharks

Career transactions
- 1992-06-20 • Selected 3rd overall in the NHL Entry Draft by the San Jose Sharks
- 2005-08-02 • Signed to a five-year contract by the Phildelphia Flyers

• Missed majority of 1996-97 due to groin injury vs. Dallas Stars, 1996-11-08
• Missed majority of 2006-07 due to a back injury
• Missed entire 2007-08 due to a groin injury

After retiring, he remained near San Jose and invested in several restaurants. He also invested in a trucking company servicing Alberta's oil fields.