Nicolas Blanchard (born May 31, 1987) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League with the Carolina Hurricanes. 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 NHL Entry Draft. Originally scheduled to be held on June 25, the 2004–05 NHL lockout led to the draft being postponed to July 30. Special procedures were required to determine the order of picks, because ...

Playing career

Blanchard played junior hockey in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with the

Chicoutimi Saguenéens The Chicoutimi Saguenéens are a junior ice hockey team which plays in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The team is based out of Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada (now a part of the city of Saguenay) and owned by the City of Saguenay. 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 a ...

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 representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, he spent the rest of his career within the organization playing for its AHL affiliate (initially the River Rats, then the Charlotte Checkers). 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 of the ECHL 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 Charlotte Checkers (2010–) players Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL) players French Quebecers Norfolk Admirals (ECHL) players Ice hockey people from Quebec People from Granby, Quebec St. John's IceCaps players