Trevor Blanchard has just signed for the Dundalk Bulls
Trevor Blanchard Left Wing
Born Jun 6 1983 -- Sudbury, ONT
Height 6.02 -- Weight 180
Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1999-00 Owen Sound Platers OHL 61 2 5 7 78 -- -- -- -- --
2000-01 Owen Sound Attack OHL 65 15 18 33 153 5 1 2 3 14
2001-02 Owen Sound Attack OHL 8 3 4 7 18 -- -- -- -- --
2001-02 Mississauga IceDogs OHL 9 0 2 2 15 -- -- -- -- --
2001-02 Sudbury Wolves OHL 37 12 10 22 82 5 0 0 0 6
2002-03 Sudbury Wolves OHL 56 11 19 30 109 -- -- -- -- --
2003-04 Georgetown Raiders OPJHL 16 3 15 18 48
2005-06 Concordia University CIS 22 4 9 13 30
2006-07 Concordia University CIS 25 14 17 31 75
2007-08 Victoria Salmon Kings ECHL 7 1 0 1 16
2007-08 Concordia University CIS 28 13 25 38 12
The ConcordianTuesday, April 8, 2008
Home > Sports
'Blanch' providing physical presence
Trevor Blanchard embraces his role as Concordia's tough-guy while he adjusts to the CIS
That's how first-year Stinger Trevor Blanchard found out about Concordia. The Sudbury native was tending bar at a local watering hole when former Stinger Luc Messier (aka Moose) "came into my bar, and he told me to come down and check it out. So, I called up Kevin, and the rest is history."
With the departure of tough guy, Colin Scotland, the Stingers had a place for someone who wasn't afraid to throw his weight around, but in Blanchard also got four years of major junior experience, and the gritty winger is also not shy with the puck.
For someone who's so aggressive on the ice, Blanchard is as relaxed as they come. The 22 year old grew up in Sudbury. He still spends his summers there with his "buddies and family." He bartends at a local bar, and this summer he worked for Pioneer Construction fixing pot holes.
Being a small town with a major junior team, hockey is a big part of Sudbury life. "My dad lied about my age, and I started playing hockey when I was three. My dad coached me all the way up til peewee so I could play a year up. In Sudbury, AAA starts at minor peewee, so that's when I started playing AAA." It was his father who was his coach and biggest fan that got him playing forward. "My dad threw me up front, and I just really liked it. I liked to score goals."
He was drafted as an underage in Bantam by Owen Sound of the Ontario Hockey League, and moved to Owen Sound in grade 11. "Owen Sound is smaller than Sudbury, I'm used to small towns. And obviously, I was a little homesick, but it's common. The people there made it fairly easy for me. I lived with a teacher, and she answered my questions; they were a second family to me." He returns every summer to play in the team golf tournament and visit with his former billet family.
In the summer of 2002, he was invited to NHL rookie camp as a free agent with the Detroit Red Wings, which he counts as one of his most memorable experiences. He made it through rookie camp and on to the main camp. "It was a dream come true," he said with a blinding grin. "I was treated like a king. I came in, and I was sitting between Holmstrom and Robitaille," he said with a hint of a French accent. "Luc Robitaille saw that I had a french last name, and he kind of took me under his wing. He's a great NHL player, and it was really an eye opener. You think you can play in the NHL and realize that you have a lot of work to do to be able to catch up with these guys." His parents came down to visit him, and they went fishing on Lake Michigan. "I was definitely living the high life. It's something I look forward to telling my kids about."
