Sean Blanchard

Sean Blanchard (born March 29, 1978) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the Brantford Blast in Allan Cup Hockey. He was selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the fourth round (99th overall) of the 1997 NHL entry draft, and spent most of his professional career in Europe.

Playing career Junior Sean Blanchard started his junior hockey career with the Valley East Cobras of the Great North Midget League. Following a successful season with the Cobra's, Blanchard was drafted 13th overall by the Ottawa 67's in the 1994 OHL Priority Draft. CHL Defenceman of the Year, as well as being named as both an OHL and CHL First Team All Star. As a result of his play, Blanchard was drafted in the fourth round of the 1997 NHL entry draft by the Los Angeles Kings. Blanchard returned to the capital as an overage player, where his was once again named as an OHL First Team All Star, and narrowly lost winning his second Max Kaminsky Trophy to fellow OHL All Star Chris Allen. He would spend the majority of the season with the Sea Wolves, and helped the team win the Kelly Cup, beating the Richmond Renegades in the finals. The Kings would change their farm teams in the off-season, and as a result Blanchard would spend the 1999–00 season with both the AHL's Lowell Lock Monsters and the ECHL's Trenton Titans. The following season, Blanchard would primarily play for Florida Everblades of the ECHL, but would also dress for the Grand Rapids Griffins and Manitoba Moose, both of the IHL. In Florida he would have a decent season, scoring 30 points in 51 games.

Europe Following his time in Florida, Blanchard moved the Europe in order to play for the London Knights of the BISL. His first season with the Knights saw the team qualify for the playoffs, before narrowly losing to the Sheffield Steelers in the semi-finals. In his second year with the Knights, the team would make it to the playoff final, ultimately losing to the Belfast Giants. Following the culmination of the 2002–03 season, the team would fold as a result of their rink, the London Arena, being sold to developers. This, coupled with the Ayr Scottish Eagles and Manchester Storm also folding, and the Bracknell Bees deciding to drop down to the BNL, culminated in the demise of the BISL.

Following the dissolution of the Knights, Blanchard moved to Italy, signing with Serie A side SV Ritten for the 2003–04 season. In his first season in Italy, Blanchard would have a great season, scoring 49 points in 41 games, tying Kent Simpson as the team's top scorer. He would remain with the team for the following season, tallying 24 points in 36 games.

For the 2007–08 season, Blanchard returned to Europe in order to play for DEL side Iserlohn Roosters, where he had a solid season, tallying 24 points in 46 games, helping the team to a 5th-place finish. At the culmination of the season, Blanchard remained in Germany, but moved to the Hamburg Freezers, registering 20 points in 51 games as the team finished 8th. He then joined another DEL side Frankfurt Lions for the 2009–10 season. The Lions had a strong season, finishing 2nd during the regular season before losing to 7th seed ERC Ingolstadt in the first round the playoffs. For the 2010–11 season, Blanchard moved to the Nürnberg Ice Tigers, helping the team finish 10th. He then returned to Iserlohn for the 2011–12 season, however, the team struggled, finishing 10th. One more season in Germany would follow, with Grizzlys Adams Wolfsburg. The team would also finish 10th, however would qualify for the playoffs, before losing to Kölner Haie in the semi-finals. Following his 6th season in Germany, Blanchard retired from professional hockey.

Allan Cup Hockey Despite retiring as a professional, Blanchard continued to play, signing with the newly formed senior hockey team Stoney Creek Generals, of Allan Cup Hockey. Upon joining the Generals, he reunited with former Knights teammate Dennis Maxwell. Between 2016 and 2019, the Generals would win the league four times on a trot, and in 2018 would go on to win the Allan Cup, beating the Lacombe Generals in the final. Following the culmination of the 2018–19 season, the Generals were sold and relocated, thus becoming the Brantford Blast. Blanchard was named team captain - a position he held for the previous two season in Stoney Creek - and the team made it to the ACH Finals against the Hamilton Steelhawks. The finals were cancelled, however, as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

As of July 2020, Blanchard is the sole remaining active member of the former London Knights.

International Blanchard was named to the Canadian team for the 1998 World Junior Championships. The team lost in the quarterfinals to Russia, during which game Blanchard registered his only point of the tournament, assisting on a Daniel Tkaczuk goal.

Blanchard dressed for the Canadian National Team for 2005 editions of the Loto Cup and the Deutschland Cup. He was again a member of the national team during the 2008 Deutschland Cup, which Canada won, and would again dress for the team in the 2010 edition of the tournament.

Awards CHL Defenceman of the Year (1997) Max Kaminsky Trophy (1997) CHL First Team All-Star (1997) OHL First Team All-Star (1997) OHL First Team All-Star (1998) ECHL Kelly Cup Champion (1999) ECHL Second All-Star Team (2007) Allan Cup Champion (2018)

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1993–94 Valley East Cobras GNML 35 50 17 50 46 — — — — — 1993–94 Espanola Eagles NOJHL 1 50 0 50 0 — — — — — 1994–95 Ottawa 67's OHL 59 50 5 50 24 — — — — — 1995–96 Ottawa 67's OHL 64 50 29 50 49 4 1 3 4 7 1996–97 Ottawa 67's OHL 66 50 57 50 64 24 3 15 18 34 1997–98 Ottawa 67's OHL 57 50 51 50 43 14 0 6 6 29 1998–99 Springfield Falcons AHL 10 50 1 50 4 — — — — — 1998–99 Mississippi Sea Wolves ECHL 58 50 24 50 30 17 0 8 8 4 1999–2000 Lowell Lock Monsters AHL 54 50 5 50 28 3 0 0 0 2 1999–2000 Trenton Titans ECHL 2 50 0 50 0 — — — — — 2000–01 Florida Everblades ECHL 51 50 25 50 60 5 0 2 2 2 2000–01 Grand Rapids Griffins IHL 10 68 0 68 7 — — — — — 2000–01 Manitoba Moose IHL 7 69 0 69 4 — — — — — 2001–02 London Knights BISL 35 70 6 70 14 7 0 1 1 8 2002–03 London Knights BISL 32 71 12 71 24 18 8 6 14 6 2003–04 SV Ritten ITA 42 72 33 72 58 3 2 1 3 0 2004–05 Ritten Sport ITA 36 73 19 73 28 6 2 3 5 12 2005–06 ZSC Lions NLA 4 74 1 74 14 — — — — — 2005–06 GCK Lions NLB 19 99 8 99 50 5 0 3 3 22 2006–07 Portland Pirates AHL 13 100 6 100 12 — — — — — 2006–07 Augusta Lynx ECHL 57 80 34 80 80 2 0 1 1 0 2007–08 Iserlohn Roosters DEL 46 87 22 87 44 7 1 2 3 6 2008–09 Hamburg Freezers DEL 51 86 18 86 77 9 0 3 3 8 2009–10 Frankfurt Lions DEL 55 85 18 85 71 4 1 0 1 4 2010–11 Nürnberg Ice Tigers DEL 52 84 14 84 38 2 0 0 0 4 2011–12 Iserlohn Roosters DEL 25 92 15 92 22 1 0 0 0 0 2012–13 Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg DEL 52 91 13 91 75 12 0 1 1 12 2013–14 Stoney Creek Generals ACH 15 99 10 99 16 4 0 1 1 16 2014–15 Stoney Creek Generals ACH 19 99 13 99 34 5 2 3 5 8 2015–16 Stoney Creek Generals ACH 23 99 20 99 20 6 2 6 8 9 2016–17 Stoney Creek Generals ACH 24 99 28 99 31 8 0 9 9 6 2017–18 Stoney Creek Generals ACH 21 99 16 99 17 9 0 6 6 13 2017–18 Stoney Creek Generals AC — 99 50 99 99 5 1 1 2 6 2018–19 Stoney Creek Generals ACH 21 99 10 99 99 7 0 2 2 2 2019–20 Brantford Blast ACH 18 99 19 99 99 7 0 2 2 2 ECHL totals 168 99 83 106 170 24 0 11 11 6 DEL totals 281 99 100 115 327 35 2 6 8 34 ACH totals 141 99 97 118 162 46 4 29 33 58

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1998 Canada WJC 78 78 6 78 0

Personal life Blanchard's cousin is fellow professional hockey player Neal Martin, who also played for the London Knights.