Éric Bélanger (born December 16, 1977) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

player. He played the majority of his professional career as a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricit ...

in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

(NHL), representing the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ...

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 seaso ...

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confe ...

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mu ...

and

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

. He was originally drafted in the fourth round, 96th overall, in the

1996 NHL Entry Draft The 1996 NHL Entry Draft was the 34th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri, on June 22, 1996. The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Zdeno Chára, who retired after the 2021–22 season. ...

by Los Angeles. In 2021, Bélanger was named the first head coach the Trois-Rivières Lions, an expansion team in the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). Th ...

affiliated with the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

Playing career

As a youth, Bélanger played in the 1991

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...

with a

minor ice hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from c ...

team from

Orford, Quebec Orford is a township municipality of about 5,000 people in Memphrémagog Regional County Municipality in the Estrie region of Quebec, Canada. Orford's main attraction is its ski resort on Mount Orford, attracting thousands of people every win ...

. On March 3, 2010, the

NHL trade deadline In professional sports within the United States and Canada, a trade is a sports league transaction between sports clubs involving the exchange of player rights from one team to another. Though player rights are the primary trading assets, draft ...

, Bélanger was traded to the

in exchange for a second-round pick in the

2010 NHL Entry Draft The 2010 NHL Entry Draft was the 48th NHL Entry Draft, held on June 25–26, 2010 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, home arena of the Los Angeles Kings. This was the first time Los Angeles hosted the NHL Entry Draft. An unofficial r ...

. In Game 5 of the Capitals' 2010 playoff series against the

, Bélanger took a high stick to the mouth from Canadiens defenceman

Marc-André Bergeron Joseph Marc-André Bergeron (born October 13, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in 10 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) before spending the later years of his career with the ZSC Lions of the Nati ...

, which resulted in Bélanger losing nine teeth. Moments after the hit, the game telecast showed Bélanger on the bench removing a loose tooth from his mouth, using just his fingers and a piece of gauze. Bélanger signed a three-year, $5.25 million contract with the

on July 1, 2011. In his first season in Edmonton, however, he set offensive career-lows, scoring just four goals and 12 assists, the lowest totals in both categories in his NHL career. During the

lockout Lockout may refer to: * Lockout (industry), a type of work stoppage ** Dublin Lockout, a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers 1913 - 1914 * Lockout (sports), lockout in sports leagues **MLB lockout, loc ...

-shortened 2012–13 season, Bélanger suffered a second successive disappointing year going without a goal in 26 games for the Oilers. On July 4, 2013, he was placed on unconditional waivers in order for a compliance buyout from the final year of his contract with the Oilers. On July 15, 2013, Bélanger left the NHL and signed a one-year contract abroad in Russia with

Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg HC Avtomobilist (russian: Автомобилист Екатеринбург) are a professional ice hockey team based in Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia. They replaced Khimik Voskresensk in the Kontinental Hockey League in 2009. Histo ...

of the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs b ...

(KHL). He played in just seven games with Avtomobilist in the 2013–14 season, before opting to return to North America and retire from professional hockey on September 25, 2013.

Personal life

Bélanger and Alexandra Morin have two daughters: Oceanne and Lola Pearl.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Belanger, Eric 1977 births Living people Atlanta Thrashers players Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg players Beauport Harfangs players Bolzano HC players Canadian ice hockey centres Carolina Hurricanes players Edmonton Oilers players Fredericton Canadiens players French Quebecers Sportspeople from Sherbrooke Lowell Lock Monsters players Long Beach Ice Dogs (IHL) players Los Angeles Kings draft picks Los Angeles Kings players Minnesota Wild players Phoenix Coyotes players Rimouski Océanic players Springfield Falcons players Washington Capitals players Ice hockey people from Quebec Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Italy Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Russia