Blair Betts
Blair Betts | |||
---|---|---|---|
![]() Betts with the New York Rangers in 2009 | |||
Born |
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | February 16, 1980||
Height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) | ||
Weight | 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb) | ||
Position | Centre | ||
Shot | Left | ||
Played for |
Calgary Flames New York Rangers Philadelphia Flyers | ||
NHL draft |
33rd overall, 1998 Calgary Flames | ||
Playing career | 2000–2011 |
Blair Betts (born February 16, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played nine seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Calgary Flames, New York Rangers, and Philadelphia Flyers. Betts was born in Edmonton, Alberta, but grew up in Sherwood Park, Alberta.
Playing career
Betts was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft in the second round, 33rd overall.
During the 2006–07 season, Betts found success on the Rangers checking fourth line. He was mostly paired with Colton Orr and Ryan Hollweg. Betts was also a key factor on the penalty kill. He was one of the Rangers most consistent faceoff men with 52.3 percent of faceoffs won. He was first on the team with 1,186 faceoffs taken. He was also sixth on the team, first among forwards, with 98 blocked shots and led the team with 276 minutes and 42 seconds of short-handed time on the ice. In the 2008–09 season, Betts served as one of the Rangers' alternate captains while Scott Gomez was injured.
TSN hockey analyst Pierre McGuire declared Betts "the most underrated player in the league". Praise continued for Betts on January 24, 2009, when Larry Brooks, columnist for The New York Post, wrote that Betts and teammate Fredrik Sjöström could be the best penalty kill tandem in Rangers history. As of then, the penalty kill was a franchise high of 87.6 percent.[1]
After becoming a free agent, Betts was invited to the 2009 Philadelphia Flyers training camp. The Flyers signed him to a one-year contract on October 1, 2009.[2] The Flyers later signed Betts to a two-year contract extension on February 12, 2010. On October 5, 2011, The Montreal Canadiens picked Betts up off waivers from the Flyers.[3] However, on October 9, 2011, the Montreal Canadiens cancelled the waiver claim on Betts and returned him to the Philadelphia Flyers, as he had failed his physical.[4] Betts missed the entire 2011–12 season and subsequently retired after the season.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
1996–97 | Prince George Cougars | WHL | 58 | 12 | 18 | 30 | 19 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | ||
1997–98 | Prince George Cougars | WHL | 71 | 35 | 41 | 76 | 38 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 8 | ||
1998–99 | Prince George Cougars | WHL | 42 | 20 | 22 | 42 | 39 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | ||
1999–00 | Prince George Cougars | WHL | 44 | 24 | 35 | 59 | 38 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 22 | 6 | ||
2000–01 | Saint John Flames | AHL | 75 | 13 | 15 | 28 | 28 | 19 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | ||
2001–02 | Saint John Flames | AHL | 67 | 20 | 29 | 49 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2001–02 | Calgary Flames | NHL | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2002–03 | Saint John Flames | AHL | 19 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2002–03 | Calgary Flames | NHL | 9 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2003–04 | Calgary Flames | NHL | 20 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2004–05 | Hartford Wolf Pack | AHL | 16 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2005–06 | New York Rangers | NHL | 66 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 24 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
2006–07 | New York Rangers | NHL | 82 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 24 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
2007–08 | New York Rangers | NHL | 75 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 20 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
2008–09 | New York Rangers | NHL | 81 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
2009–10 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 63 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 14 | 23 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
2010–11 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 75 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 8 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
NHL totals | 477 | 41 | 37 | 78 | 118 | 62 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12 |
Medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Representing ![]() | ||
Ice hockey | ||
World Junior Championships | ||
![]() |
1999 Canada |
International
Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1999 | Canada | WJC | ![]() |
5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
Junior totals | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Awards and honours
Award | Year | |
---|---|---|
WHL | ||
CHL Top Prospects Game | 1998 | |
AHL | ||
Calder Cup (Saint John Flames) | 2001 |
References
- ^ Brooks, Larry (2009-01-24). "Rangers tandem excels when a man down". New York Post. Retrieved 2009-07-21.
- ^ Panaccio, Tim (2009-10-01). "Flyers Sign Betts to One-Year Deal". csnphilly.com. Archived from the original on 2009-10-03. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
- ^ "Flyers Sign Betts to Two-Year Contract Extension". philadelphiaflyers.com. 2010-02-12. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
- ^ Staff, Tsn.ca (2011-10-09). "CANADIENS' WAIVER CLAIM OF BETTS REVERSED DUE TO INJURY". tsn.ca. Retrieved 2011-10-09.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
- 1980 births
- Living people
- Calgary Flames draft picks
- Calgary Flames players
- Canadian ice hockey centres
- Hartford Wolf Pack players
- Sportspeople from Edmonton
- Sportspeople from Sherwood Park
- New York Rangers players
- Philadelphia Flyers players
- Prince George Cougars players
- Saint John Flames players
- Ice hockey people from Alberta