Blair Betts

Blair Betts
Born	(1980-02-16) February 16, 1980 Edmonton, AB, CAN
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.

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. 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. 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. Betts missed the entire 2011–12 season and subsequently retired after the season.

Career statistics

				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	3		—	—	—	—	—
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
WHL totals				215	91	116	207	134		46	20	21	41	28
AHL totals				177	44	55	99	48		19	2	3	5	4

External links

Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database