Matthew Beleskey (born June 7, 1988) 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 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 hock ...

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He 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 ...

(NHL) for the

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division, and play their home games at Honda Center. ...

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

and

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

Playing career

Beleskey grew up in the small town of

Midhurst, Ontario Midhurst, Ontario is a small community in the Springwater, Ontario, Township of Springwater, Ontario, Canada and the County seat, seat of Simcoe County. With nearly 3,000 people, it is the largest population centre in Springwater. It is home to ...

in the Springwater Township. He played his minor hockey for the Barrie Icemen AAA program of the OMHA's Eastern AAA League. After his Bantam season with the Icemen, Beleskey played one season with the nearby Collingwood Blues Jr.A. club of the OHA. He was drafted in the 2nd round (21st overall) in the 2004 OHL Priority Selection by the Belleville Bulls. In the 2008 OHL Finals versus the

Kitchener Rangers The Kitchener Rangers are a major junior ice hockey team based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. The Rangers have won the J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHL ...

, Belleville was down 3-0 in the series and 4-1 in the game, but on the back of captain Beleskey's four-point night, including the game winner in overtime, Belleville won the game and pushed the series to seven games, before ultimately losing the series. He was selected by the Ducks 112th overall in the

2006 NHL Entry Draft The 2006 NHL Entry Draft was the 44th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, on June 24, 2006. The draft order for the first 14 picks was decided during a lottery held on April 20, 2006. The draft was ...

and turned professional in 2008 after a four-year junior career with the

Belleville Bulls The Belleville Bulls were a junior ice hockey team, founded in 1981 and based in Belleville, Ontario, Canada. The team played in the Eastern Division of the Eastern Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. The team moved to Hamilton, Ontario at ...

of the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...

. He made his NHL debut in the 2008–09 season, appearing in two games with the Ducks but spent most of the season in 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 Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

(AHL) with the

Iowa Chops The Iowa Stars, later known as the Iowa Chops, were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. The club was based in Des Moines, Iowa at the Wells Fargo Arena. History The Stars were founded by Howard Baldwin, of Hockey Holdi ...

. Matt Beleskey played in the UK for

Coventry Blaze Coventry Blaze are an ice hockey team based in Coventry, England. They currently compete in the British Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) and play their home games at SkyDome Arena. The club was founded in 1965 as the ''Solihull Barons'' and rena ...

ice hockey team in the Elite Ice Hockey League during the NHL lock-out. Playing in 65 games during the 2014–15 season, Beleskey scored 22 goals to go with 10 assists. He recorded eight goals and an assist during the 2015 playoffs as the Ducks lost to the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

during the Western Conference Finals. On July 1, 2015, Beleskey signed as a free agent to a five-year $19.8 million contract with the

. In the 2017–18 season, his third season with the Bruins and continuing to underperform relative to expectations, Beleskey was sent to the Bruins' AHL affiliate, the

Providence Bruins The Providence Bruins are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL), and are the primary development team for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). They play at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, Rh ...

on December 14, 2017. On February 25, 2018, Beleskey,

Ryan Spooner Ryan Bradley Spooner (born January 30, 1992) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing for HC Dinamo Minsk in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He has previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for t ...

, Ryan Lindgren, a

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

first-round pick and a

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

seventh-round pick were traded to the

in exchange for

Rick Nash Richard McLaren Nash (born June 16, 1984) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who serves as the director of player development for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). After being selected first overal ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* * 1988 births Anaheim Ducks draft picks Anaheim Ducks players Belleville Bulls players Boston Bruins players Canadian ice hockey left wingers Coventry Blaze players Hartford Wolf Pack players Ice hockey people from Simcoe County Iowa Stars players Living people New York Rangers players Norfolk Admirals players Providence Bruins players San Antonio Rampage players Sportspeople from Windsor, Ontario Syracuse Crunch players Toronto Marlies players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in England {{Canada-icehockey-winger-1980s-stub