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Jesse Bélanger

Jesse Bélanger
Born (1969-06-15) June 15, 1969 (age 55)
Saint-Georges, Quebec, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 192 lb (87 kg; 13 st 10 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Right
Played for Montreal Canadiens
Florida Panthers
Vancouver Canucks
Edmonton Oilers
SC Herisau
New York Islanders
Hamburg Freezers
Frankfurt Lions
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 1991–2013

Joseph Jesse Dave Bélanger (born June 15, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre, who played in the National Hockey League from 1991 to 2001.

Playing career

As a youth, he played in the 1981 and 1982 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with a minor ice hockey team from Saint-Georges, Quebec.[1]

Despite an excellent junior career with the Granby Bisons during which he twice topped 100 points, Bélanger was never selected in the NHL Entry Draft. He signed as a free agent with the Montreal Canadiens in 1990, and immediately showed his talent, scoring 98 points for the Fredericton Canadiens of the American Hockey League.[citation needed]

Bélanger spent three seasons in the Montreal organization but struggled to crack a deep, talented team full-time. He was recalled for 4 games in 1991–92, and received a 19-game stint in the NHL in 1992–93, during which he scored his first 4 NHL goals and added 2 assists for 6 points. He was on the team's roster for the 1993 playoffs and appeared in 9 games, helping Montreal win their 24th Stanley Cup.[citation needed]

Bélanger received his big break the next summer when he was exposed in the 1993 NHL Expansion Draft and claimed by the Florida Panthers.[2] In Florida he received a chance to play regularly, and responded finely in 1993–94, posting 17 goals and a team-leading 33 assists for 50 points. He earned NHL Player of the Week honors in January 1994.[3] He would follow up with another strong season in the lockout-shortened 1994–95 campaign, leading the Panthers with 15 goals and 29 points in 47 games.[citation needed]

In 1995–96, Bélanger was again amongst the Panthers' leading scorers when he was dealt to the Vancouver Canucks at the trade deadline. He finished the season with 42 points including a career-high 20 goals, but struggled in Vancouver and was a healthy scratch in the playoffs.[citation needed]

Released by Vancouver, Bélanger signed with the Edmonton Oilers for the 1996–97 season, but he failed to crack their roster and appeared in only 6 games as an Oiler. This began a five-year stretch where he spent most of his time in the minors and bounced from organization to organization, seeing only brief stints of NHL action. The highlight of this period was a return to Montreal in 1999–2000, during which he played well and recorded 3 goals and 9 points in 16 games. A pointless 12-game stint with the New York Islanders in 2000–01 would effectively mark the end of his NHL career.[citation needed]

Bélanger spent the final four seasons of his career in Europe playing in Germany and Switzerland. In 2003–2004, he finished 2nd in scoring in the German DEL, and helped the Frankfurt Lions to the league championship. In 2004–2005 and 2005–2006, he was the top scorer of the EHC Biel before going to play for the Lausanne hockey club.[citation needed]

In 246 NHL games, Bélanger recorded 59 goals and 76 assists for 135 points, along with 56 penalty minutes. He ended his playing career after 6 seasons in the LNAH with Saint-Georges on August 9, 2013.[4]

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1987–88 Granby Bisons QMJHL 69 33 43 76 10 5 3 3 6 0
1988–89 Granby Bisons QMJHL 67 40 63 103 26 4 0 5 5 0
1989–90 Granby Bisons QMJHL 67 53 54 107 53 — — — — —
1989–90 Canada Intl 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1990–91 Fredericton Canadiens AHL 75 40 58 98 30 6 2 4 6 0
1991–92 Fredericton Canadiens AHL 65 30 41 71 26 7 3 3 6 2
1991–92 Montreal Canadiens NHL 4 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1992–93 Fredericton Canadiens AHL 39 19 32 51 24 — — — — —
1992–93 Montreal Canadiens NHL 19 4 2 6 4 9 0 1 1 0
1993–94 Florida Panthers NHL 70 17 33 50 16 — — — — —
1994–95 Florida Panthers NHL 47 15 14 29 18 — — — — —
1995–96 Florida Panthers NHL 63 17 21 38 10 — — — — —
1995–96 Vancouver Canucks NHL 9 3 0 3 4 3 0 2 2 2
1996–97 Edmonton Oilers NHL 6 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1996–97 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 6 4 3 7 0 — — — — —
1996–97 Quebec Rafales IHL 47 34 28 62 18 9 3 5 8 13
1997–98 SC Herisau NDA 5 4 3 7 4 — — — — —
1997–98 Las Vegas Thunder IHL 54 32 36 68 20 4 0 1 1 0
1998–99 Cleveland Lumberjacks IHL 22 9 13 22 10 — — — — —
1999–2000 Quebec Citadelles AHL 36 15 18 33 20 3 0 3 3 4
1999–2000 Montreal Canadiens NHL 16 3 6 9 2 — — — — —
2000–01 New York Islanders NHL 12 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2000–01 Chicago Wolves IHL 58 17 22 39 28 14 3 4 7 10
2001–02 HC La Chaux–de–Fonds SUI.2 36 41 39 80 38 5 4 9 13 8
2002–03 Saint–Georges Garaga QSPHL 12 9 11 20 2 — — — — —
2002–03 Hamburg Freezers DEL 39 16 25 41 14 5 2 2 4 2
2003–04 Frankfurt Lions DEL 50 24 30 54 24 15 3 8 11 10
2004–05 EHC Biel SUI.2 38 29 37 66 24 1 0 0 0 0
2005–06 EHC Biel SUI.2 40 38 34 72 28 17 21 18 39 14
2006–07 Lausanne HC SUI.2 41 48 32 80 60 10 5 2 7 2
2007–08 Saint–Georges CRS Express LNAH 49 35 44 79 22 11 2 7 9 2
2008–09 Sainte–Marie Poutrelles Delta LNAH 31 15 28 43 4 — — — — —
2009–10 Saint–Georges CRS Express LNAH 44 27 38 65 8 17 12 17 29 4
2010–11 Saint–Georges Cool 103.5 FM LNAH 37 22 27 49 18 9 4 6 10 4
2011–12 Saint–Georges Cool 103.5 FM LNAH 47 31 42 73 28 — — — — —
2012–13 Saint–Georges Cool 103.5 FM LNAH 37 14 19 33 10 4 1 2 3 2
AHL totals 221 108 152 260 100 16 5 10 15 6
NHL totals 246 59 76 135 56 12 0 3 3 2
QSPHL/LNAH totals 257 153 209 362 92 41 19 32 51 12

References

  1. ^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
  2. ^ "20 years: 1993 Expansion draft". Florida Panthers. 2013-06-24. Retrieved 2013-06-24.
  3. ^ Panther earns weekly honors, web: The Naples Daily News, 1994, retrieved 13 March 2023
  4. ^ "New faces and new colours for Saint-Georges". enbeauce.com (in French). 2013-08-09. Retrieved 2013-08-09.
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