Blair Betts
Encyclopedia
Blair Betts is a Canadian
professional ice hockey
centre
who currently plays for the Philadelphia Flyers
of the National Hockey League
(NHL).
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 1186 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 NHL season, Betts played as one of the Rangers' alternate captains while Scott Gomez
was injured.
Recently, 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. Wednesday 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.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
professional ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
centre
Centre (ice hockey)
The centre in ice hockey is a forward position of a player whose primary zone of play is the middle of the ice, away from the side boards. Centres have more flexibility in their positioning and are expected to cover more ice surface than any other player...
who currently plays for the Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
of the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
(NHL).
Playing career
Betts was drafted by the Calgary FlamesCalgary Flames
The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is the third major-professional ice hockey team to represent the city of Calgary, following the...
in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft
1998 NHL Entry Draft
The 1998 NHL Entry Draft was held on June 27 at the Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo, New York. A total of 258 players were drafted.- Selections by round :Club teams are located in North America unless otherwise noted.- Round one :- Round two :...
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
Colton Orr
Colton Douglas Orr is a Canadian professional ice hockey player, currently playing in the National Hockey League for the Toronto Maple Leafs.- Playing career :...
and Ryan Hollweg
Ryan Hollweg
Ryan Alexander Hollweg is a professional ice hockey forward currently playing in the Phoenix Coyotes organization.-Playing career:...
. Betts was also a key factor on the penalty kill. He was one of the Rangers most consistent faceoff
Faceoff
A face-off is the method used to begin play in ice hockey and some other sports. The two teams line up in opposition to each other, and the opposing centres attempt to gain control of the puck after it is dropped between their sticks by an official. One of the referees drops the puck at centre ice...
men with 52.3 percent of faceoffs won. He was first on the team with 1186 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 NHL season, Betts played as one of the Rangers' alternate captains while Scott Gomez
Scott Gomez
Scott Carlos Gomez is an American ice hockey center of both Mexican and Colombian descent, currently playing for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League .-Playing career:...
was injured.
Recently, TSN
The Sports Network
The Sports Network, commonly abbreviated as TSN, is a Canadian English language Category C specialty channel and is Canada's leading English language sports TV channel. TSN premiered in 1984, in the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels...
hockey analyst Pierre McGuire
Pierre McGuire
Pierre McGuire , is an ice hockey analyst for National Hockey League broadcasts on NBC and Versus in the United States. Until 2011, he was a prominent hockey analyst on The Sports Network in Canada. Previously, he was a player, coach, and scout.-Hockey career:McGuire won two Stanley Cups as a scout...
declared Betts "the most underrated player in the league". Praise continued for Betts on January 24, 2009 when Larry Brooks
Larry Brooks
Lawrence Lee Brooks, Sr. , is a former American Football defensive tackle for the Los Angeles Rams eleven seasons from 1972 to 1982 in the National Football League...
, columnist for The New York Post, wrote that Betts and teammate Fredrik Sjöström
Fredrik Sjöström
Fredrik Sjöström is a Swedish professional ice hockey winger playing with Frölunda HC of the Elitserien. He previously played in the National Hockey League for the Phoenix Coyotes, New York Rangers, Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs.-Playing career:Sjöström is a big but speedy forward who...
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
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
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. Wednesday October 5 2011 The Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
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.
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season Season (sports) In an organized sports league, a season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session. For example, in Major League Baseball, one season lasts approximately from April 1 through October 1; in Association football, it is generally from August until May In an... |
Team | League | GP | G Goal (ice hockey) In ice hockey, a goal is scored when the puck completely crosses the goal line between the two goal posts and below the goal crossbar. A goal awards one point to the team attacking the goal scored upon, regardless of which team the player who actually deflected the puck into the goal belongs to... |
A Assist (ice hockey) In ice hockey, an assist is attributed to up to two players of the scoring team who shot, passed or deflected the puck towards the scoring teammate, or touched it in any other way which enabled the goal, meaning that they were "assisting" in the goal. There can be a maximum of two assists per goal... |
Pts Point (ice hockey) Point in ice hockey has three official meanings:* A point is awarded to a player for each goal scored or assist earned. The total number of goals plus assists equals total points. In some European leagues, a goal counts as two points, and an assist counts as one... |
PIM Penalty (ice hockey) A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for inappropriate behavior. Most penalties are enforced by detaining the offending player within a penalty box for a set number of minutes, during which, the player can not participate in play. The offending team usually may not replace the player on the ice,... |
GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1996–97 | Prince George Cougars Prince George Cougars The Prince George Cougars are a major junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League. The team is based in Prince George, British Columbia, and plays its home games at the CN Centre... |
WHL Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League as the highest level of junior hockey in Canada... |
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 2000–01 AHL season The 2000–01 AHL season was the 65th season of the American Hockey League. The league realigns its divisions again. The Atlantic division is renamed the Canadian division. The Empire State division is replaced by the South division, with many teams shifting from the Mid-Atlantic division.Twenty... |
Saint John Flames Saint John Flames The Saint John Flames were an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League from 1993 to 2003 in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. The Calgary Flames bought and relocated the Utica Devils, to be their AHL affiliate.... |
AHL American Hockey League The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League... |
75 | 13 | 15 | 28 | 28 | 19 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | ||
| 2001–02 2001–02 AHL season The 2001–02 AHL season was the 66th season of the American Hockey League. It was the season of the biggest growth in the AHL's history, as it accepted eight new teams. The demise of the International Hockey League brought six teams transferring from the defunct league, in addition to two expansion... |
Saint John Flames | AHL | 67 | 20 | 29 | 49 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | Calgary Flames Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is the third major-professional ice hockey team to represent the city of Calgary, following the... |
NHL National Hockey League The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States... |
6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 2002–03 AHL season The 2002–03 AHL season was the 67th season of the American Hockey League. Twenty-eight teams played 80 games each in the schedule. The Hamilton Bulldogs finished first overall in the regular season... |
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 2004–05 AHL season The 2004–05 AHL season was the 69th season of the American Hockey League. Twenty-eight teams played 80 games each in the schedule. The Rochester Americans finished first overall in the regular season... |
Hartford Wolf Pack Hartford Wolf Pack The Connecticut Whale is a professional ice hockey team based in Hartford, Connecticut. They play in the American Hockey League . They play their home games at the XL Center.... |
AHL | 16 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | New York Rangers New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the... |
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 2008–09 NHL season The 2008–09 NHL season was the 92nd season of operation of the National Hockey League . It was the first season since prior to the 2004–05 lockout in which every team played each other at least once during the season, following three seasons where teams only played against two divisions in the... |
New York Rangers | NHL | 81 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2009–10 2009–10 NHL season The 2009–10 NHL season was the 93rd season of operation of the National Hockey League , and the 100th season since the founding of the predecessor National Hockey Association . It ran from October 1, 2009, including four games in Europe on October 2 and 3—until April 11, 2010, with the 2010... |
Philadelphia Flyers Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League... |
NHL | 63 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 14 | 23 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 2010–11 2010–11 NHL season The 2010–11 NHL season was the 94th season of operation of the National Hockey League . It was the fourth consecutive season that opened in Europe with NHL Premiere . A record three events were scheduled, all in previous NHL Premiere cities: Helsinki, Finland; Stockholm, Sweden; and Prague, Czech... |
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 | ||||