Blair Betts

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.

Blair Betts
Betts with the New York Rangers in 2009
Born (1980-02-16) February 16, 1980
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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

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  Canada
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
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References
  1. Brooks, Larry (2009-01-24). "Rangers tandem excels when a man down". New York Post. Archived from the original on 2009-04-22. Retrieved 2009-07-21.
  2. 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.
  3. "Flyers Sign Betts to Two-Year Contract Extension". philadelphiaflyers.com. 2010-02-12. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
  4. Staff, Tsn.ca (2011-10-09). "CANADIENS' WAIVER CLAIM OF BETTS REVERSED DUE TO INJURY". tsn.ca. Retrieved 2011-10-09.
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