Nicolas Blanchard

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.

Playing career Blanchard played junior hockey in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens and was signed to a three-year entry-level contract with the Hurricanes on March 4, 2007.

Blanchard while on the Albany River Rats 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, 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 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 Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2003–04 Collège Antoine–Girouard QMAAA 42 24 28 52 28 13 9 6 15 4 2004–05 Chicoutimi Saguenéens QMJHL 69 13 26 39 31 17 2 2 4 10 2005–06 Chicoutimi Saguenéens QMJHL 60 15 29 44 51 9 1 2 3 4 2006–07 Chicoutimi Saguenéens QMJHL 62 22 35 57 41 4 0 2 2 8 2006–07 Albany River Rats AHL 7 1 2 3 2 5 0 0 0 2 2007–08 Albany River Rats AHL 64 11 12 23 70 7 0 2 2 2 2008–09 Albany River Rats AHL 55 7 12 19 132 — — — — — 2009–10 Albany River Rats AHL 76 14 8 22 171 8 0 0 0 13 2010–11 Charlotte Checkers AHL 72 8 10 18 101 16 2 3 5 16 2011–12 Charlotte Checkers AHL 68 9 12 21 103 — — — — — 2012–13 Charlotte Checkers AHL 61 4 5 9 124 3 0 1 1 7 2012–13 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 9 0 0 0 20 — — — — — 2013–14 Charlotte Checkers AHL 65 7 8 15 111 — — — — — 2014–15 St. John's IceCaps AHL 63 3 11 14 81 — — — — — 2015–16 Norfolk Admirals ECHL 4 3 1 4 4 — — — — — 2015–16 Saint–Georges Cool FM 103.5 LNAH 19 10 13 23 18 4 0 4 4 12 2016–17 Saint–Georges Cool FM 103.5 LNAH 26 4 18 22 43 12 2 0 2 13 AHL totals 531 64 80 144 895 39 2 6 8 40 NHL totals 9 0 0 0 20 — — — — —