Nicolas Blanchard (born May 31, 1987) is a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) 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. Tw ...

player who played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

with the

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

. He was selected in the 6th round, 192nd overall, by the Hurricanes in the

2005 NHL Entry Draft The 2005 NHL entry draft was the 43rd entry draft for the National Hockey League. Originally scheduled to be held on June 25, it was postponed to July 30 due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout. Special procedures were required to determine the order ...

Playing career

Blanchard played junior hockey in the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL; , LHJMQ), formerly the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The league includes teams in Quebec ...

with the

Chicoutimi Saguenéens The Chicoutimi Saguenéens are a Canadian junior ice hockey team which plays in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The team is based in Chicoutimi, Quebec, and owned by the City of Saguenay. The team plays its home games at th ...

and was signed to a three-year entry-level contract with the Hurricanes on March 4, 2007. Blanchard while on the

Albany River Rats The Albany River Rats were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Albany, New York at the Times Union Center. History Before the formation of the franchise Without a viable indoor arena with ...

was involved in a bus crash which took him to hospital in a serious condition and injured five members of the team. Although Blanchard played 9 games with the Hurricanes during the

2012-13 NHL Season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, he spent the rest of his career within the organization playing for its AHL affiliate (initially the River Rats, then the

Charlotte Checkers The Charlotte Checkers are a professional ice hockey team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the American Hockey League (AHL), and are the top minor league affiliate of the ...

). After the 2013–14 season with the Checkers, Blanchard became an unrestricted free agent and did not re-sign with the team. He signed a one-year AHL contract with the

St. John's IceCaps The St. John's IceCaps were a professional ice hockey team based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. They were members of the North Division of the Eastern Conference of the American Hockey League (AHL). The team was originally aff ...

on October 9, 2014. In the 2014–15 season, Blanchard established a checking line role, contributing with 14 points in 63 games. An un-signed free agent into the 2015–16 season, Blanchard belatedly signed a contract with the

Norfolk Admirals Norfolk Admirals has been the name of two professional ice hockey franchises: *Norfolk Admirals (AHL), a team which played in the American Hockey League from 2000 to 2015 *Norfolk Admirals (ECHL) The Norfolk Admirals are a professional ice hockey ...

of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

on November 27, 2015. He featured in 4 games with the Admirals, before opting to end his professional career on December 7, 2015.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blanchard, Nicolas 1987 births Living people Albany River Rats players Canadian ice hockey left wingers Carolina Hurricanes draft picks Carolina Hurricanes players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Charlotte Checkers (2010–) players Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL) players Norfolk Admirals (ECHL) players Ice hockey people from Granby, Quebec St. John's IceCaps players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen