Blair Betts | |
---|---|
Born | February 16, 1980 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
Weight | 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb) |
Position | Centre |
Shoots | Left |
Played for | Calgary Flames New York Rangers Philadelphia Flyers |
NHL Draft | 33rd overall, 1998 Calgary Flames |
Playing career | 2000–2011 |
Blair Betts (born on February 16, 1980) is a former Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played nine seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Calgary Flames, New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers.
Playing Career[]
Blair was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the second round (33rd overall) in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft.
On September 27, 2002, he missed the majority of the 2002-03 NHL season due to a shoulder injury he suffered during training camp.
Blair also missed the majority of the 2003-04 NHL season due to shoulder injuries he suffered on November 22, 2003 (in a game versus the Chicago Blackhawks) and December 31, 2003 (in a game versus the Colorado Avalanche).
On March 6, 2004, he was traded to the New York Rangers with Jamie McLennan and Greg Moore for Chris Simon and the Rangers' seventh round choice (Matt Schneider) in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.
During the 2006–07 season, he found success on the Rangers checking fourth line. Blair was mostly paired with Colton Orr and Ryan Hollweg. He 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.
Blair was first on the team with 1,186 faceoffs taken. He was also sixth on the team, first among forwards with 98 blocked shots.
He led the team with 276 minutes and 42 seconds of short-handed time on the ice.
In the 2008–09 season, Blair served as one of the Rangers' alternate captains while Scott Gomez was injured.
TSN hockey analyst Pierre McGuire declared him "the most underrated player in the league."
Praise continued for Blair on January 24, 2009 when Larry Brooks (a columnist for The New York Post) wrote that he and his teammate Fredrik Sjostrom 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, Blair was invited to the 2009 Philadelphia Flyers training camp.
On October 1, 2009, the Flyers signed him to a one-year contract. On February 12, 2010, he was later signed to a two-year contract extension.
On October 5, 2011, The Montreal Canadiens picked Blair up off waivers from the Flyers, but on October 9, 2011, Montreal cancelled the waiver claim on him & returned him to the Flyers after failing his physical.
Blair ended up missing the entire 2011-12 NHL 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 |
Personal Life[]
Blair was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, but he grew up in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada.