Mike Rosati

Did You Know?

• Rosati is currently the goaltending coach of the Vegas Golden Knights in the NHL.
• He enjoys spending time with his two daughters, Jessica and Alyssa.
• In the offseason, Rosati lives in Niagara Falls.

Early years

As a youth, Rosati played in the 1981 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Wexford, Toronto. He began his career in the Ontario Hockey League and was drafted by the New York Rangers in the 1988 NHL entry draft. After a disappointing season in the ECHL, he decided to play in Italy, where he found success with Hockey Club Bolzano. Rosati led Bolzano to two Italian Hockey Championships and earned a place as goaltender for the Italian national team for the 1994 and 1998 Winter Olympics.

The 1990s and the NHL experience

By the second half of the 1990s, the Italian hockey movement had gone through a difficult period, and Rosati moved to Germany to play for Adler Mannheim of the DEL. In 1998, after two seasons with Mannheim, he signed with the Washington Capitals as the third goaltender behind Olaf Kölzig and Rick Tabaracci, playing for their minor league affiliate, the Portland Pirates. On November 7, 1998, after Kölzig suffered an injury, Rosati made his NHL debut against the Ottawa Senators in an 8–5 Capitals win, playing 28 minutes and making 12 saves without allowing a goal. He finished the season with the Manitoba Moose of the IHL and then returned to Mannheim for four more seasons.