Joseph Jesse Dave Bélanger (born June 15, 1969) is a Canadian former professional

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

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 eccentri ...

who played in the

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

from 1991 to 2001.

Playing career

As a youth, he played in the 1981 and 1982

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, ...

s 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

Saint-Georges, Quebec Saint-Georges () is a city in the province of Quebec. It is the seat of Beauce-Sartigan Regional County Municipality, part of the Chaudière-Appalaches region. The population was 32,935 as of the Canada 2021 Census. Route 173 runs through Sain ...

. Despite an excellent junior career with the

Granby Bisons The Granby Bisons were a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Granby, Quebec, and played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). They team was founded in 1981 in after the team moved from Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, where they had previousl ...

during which he twice topped 100 points, Bélanger was never selected in the

NHL Entry Draft The NHL Entry Draft (french: Repêchage d'entrée dans la LNH) is an annual meeting in which every franchise of the National Hockey League (NHL) systematically select the rights to available ice hockey players who meet draft eligibility requirem ...

. He signed as a free agent 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 ...

in 1990, and immediately showed his talent, scoring 98 points for the

Fredericton Canadiens The Fredericton Canadiens, or the 'Baby Habs' were a professional ice hockey team in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The Canadiens played their home games at the Aitken Centre. They were a member of the American Hockey League from 1990 to 1999, and we ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

. 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 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

, 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. Bélanger received his big break the next summer when he was exposed in the

1993 NHL Expansion Draft The 1993 NHL Expansion Draft was an expansion draft held by the National Hockey League (NHL) to fill the rosters of the league's two expansion teams for the 1993–94 season, the Florida Panthers and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. The draft took pl ...

and claimed by the Florida Panthers. In Florida he received a chance to play regularly, and responded in fine fashion in 1993–94, posting 17 goals and a team-leading 33 assists for 50 points. 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. In 1995–96, Bélanger was again amongst the Panthers' leading scorers when he was dealt to the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

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. Released by Vancouver, Bélanger signed with the

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 ...

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. Bélanger spent the final four seasons of his career in Europe playing in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and Switzerland . In 2003–2004, he finished 2nd in scoring in the German

DEL Del, or nabla, is an operator used in mathematics (particularly in vector calculus) as a vector differential operator, usually represented by the nabla symbol ∇. When applied to a function defined on a one-dimensional domain, it denotes ...

, 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. 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.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Belanger, Jesse 1969 births EHC Biel players Canadian ice hockey centres Chicago Wolves (IHL) players Cleveland Lumberjacks players Edmonton Oilers players Florida Panthers players Frankfurt Lions players Fredericton Canadiens players Granby Bisons players Hamburg Freezers players Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) players HC La Chaux-de-Fonds players Las Vegas Thunder players Lausanne HC players Living people Montreal Canadiens players New York Islanders players People from Saint-Georges, Quebec Quebec Citadelles players Quebec Rafales players Saint-Georges Cool FM 103.5 players SC Herisau players Stanley Cup champions Undrafted National Hockey League players Vancouver Canucks players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland