Mike Lankshear

Mike Lankshear
Born	(1978-08-09) August 9, 1978 Burlington, ON, CAN
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight	196 lb (89 kg; 14 st 0 lb)
Position	Defence
Shoots	Left
MLH team Former teams	Dundas Real McCoys Laval Chiefs
NHL Draft	66th overall, 1996 Toronto Maple Leafs
Playing career	1994–present

Mike Lankshear (born September 8, 1978 in Burlington, Ontario) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player, currently playing for the Dundas Real McCoys in the MLH. Lankshear began his career playing junior hockey at OPJHL level for his home town team, the Burlington Cougars.

Lankshear would initially play at senior level in the OHL for the Guelph Storm and would immediately prove himself up to the task. In his first season, he played 63 regular season games grabbing 28 points and 73 penalty minutes. His rough, physical style of hockey would get him noticed by scouts and he was taken 66th overall in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Lankshear would fail to make an appearance for the Leafs though, and would remain with the Storm for the 1996/97 season. He was again a solid player for them, playing in both the regular and post season, totalling 70 appearances. Lankshear would remain in the OHL for the 1997/98 season, but would split it between the Windsor Spitfires and the Owen Sound Platers. After his mid-season acquisition for the Platers, he established himself in the first team and after featuring in the post season, was re-signed for the 1998/99 term, a season which would be the highest finish in Platers' franchise history.

Despite this, Lankshear failed to remain for the full term, and moved mid-season to the ill fated Arkansas GlacierCats organization. Lankshear played for the rest of the season for the Glaciercats, before signing for the ECHL team, the Baton Rouge Kingfish. The ECHL would be the highest standard hockey Lankshear had professionally played, but despite this he flourished and featured in more than 60 games in his first ECHL season.

He again did not settle though, and found himself returning to the WPHL, with the Odessa Jackalopes, a team affiliated with the NHL Edmonton Oilers. A further move would come at the end of the season, and Lankshear would be a Pensacola Ice Pilots player for the start of the 2000/01 ECHL term. Yet another mid-season move would arise for Lankshear, this time to the locally popular Roanoke Express.

A drastic move would signal the start of the 2002/03 season, with Lankshear deciding to ply his trade in Europe with the Newcastle Vipers, then of the BNL following the collapse of the ISL. Lankshear struggled to establish himself and made just over 30 appearances for the Vipers before returning to Canada to sign for Sherbrooke Saint-Francois, then of the short lived QSMHL.

A second venture into Europe would follow the season after, and Lankshear signed for the Manchester Phoenix, then playing their inaugural season both as a franchise after the collapse of the Manchester Storm and also as part of the newly formed EIHL. Lankshear was a first team player for the Phoenix up until the franchise had to be suspended in 2004 due to off ice financial problems. This would prove to be Lankshear's last time playing hockey outside of North America to date.

Lankshear would struggle to find consistency and spent the 2004/05 season playing for three different teams - the now defunct Aylmer Blues of the QHASR, the Kansas City Outlaws, then of the UHL and a second spell with Sherbrooke Saint-Francois.

His physical presence and rough style would help Lankshear as he moved into the self-titled 'roughest hockey league in the world', the LNAH. Here he would play for the Laval Chiefs, two time champions of the league. The rather different style of hockey must have suited Lankshear as he chose to stay for the 2006/07 season, signing for the Saint-Hyacinthe Top Design.

Lankshear would move again for the 2007/08 season, choosing to return to his home province and play for the Dundas Real McCoys of the MLH, the highest level of senior hockey in Ontario.

External links

• Mike Lankshear's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
• Mike Lankshear Personal Profile, Manchester Phoenix Official Website.
• Interview with Mike Lankshear, Manchester Phoenix Official Website, 06/01/05
• Dundas Real McCoys Roster, 2007/08 Season, Dundas Real McCoys Official Website.