André Benoit

André Benoit (born January 6, 1984) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenseman. He played for several professional teams including the Ottawa Senators, Colorado Avalanche, Buffalo Sabres and the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL), Södertälje SK, Tappara and Malmö Redhawks in Europe, as well as Spartak Moscow of the KHL.

For the Canadian luger, see André Benoit (luger).

André Benoit
Born (1984-01-06) January 6, 1984
St. Albert, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 197 lb (89 kg; 14 st 1 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Tappara
Södertälje SK
Ottawa Senators
Spartak Moscow
Colorado Avalanche
Buffalo Sabres
St. Louis Blues
Malmö Redhawks
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2005–2018

Playing career

As a youth, Benoit played in the 1998 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Ottawa Senators minor ice hockey team.[1]

Benoit played five years of junior hockey with the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). He was not drafted by any NHL team but was signed by the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League (AHL) in the summer of 2005. Benoit began his professional career in the 2005–06 season with the Bulldogs and was signed in 2006 a three-year entry level contract with the Montreal Canadiens, the NHL parent team of the Bulldogs.[2] He spent the rest of that season and the entirety of the next season with Hamilton, helping the Bulldogs capture the Calder Cup.[3]

After his three-year deal expired in 2007, Benoit continued his career in Europe, playing one season with Tappara Tampere of the SM-liiga in 2007–08, followed by one season with Södertälje SK of the Swedish Elite League.[4]

Benoit with the Senators during the 2013 playoffs.

Benoit returned to North America in 2009, signing a one-year contract with the Canadiens in May 2009[5] and playing most of the 2009–10 season with their AHL farm club in Hamilton.

In the 2010 off-season, Benoit left the Canadiens organization and signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Ottawa Senators.[6] He failed to make the NHL team out of training camp and was assigned to its AHL affiliate in Binghamton. He was called up to Ottawa in February 2011 and played in eight regular season games. He was returned to Binghamton for the post-season, helping Binghamton win the 2011 Calder Cup and for a third time in his career led all AHL defenseman in assists in the playoffs.

In the 2011 off-season Benoit returned to Europe, signing a one-year contract with Spartak Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League.[7]

On July 1, 2012, during the NHL's first day of free agency, Benoit rejoined the Ottawa Senators organization, signing a one-year two-way deal. Benoit captained Binghamton during the NHL lockout and started the shortened 2012–13 season with Ottawa once the lockout concluded in January 2013. He scored his first NHL goal on February 19, 2013, against goaltender Rick DiPietro as Ottawa defeated the New York Islanders 3–1.[8] For the first time in his career, Benoit remained in the NHL for the duration of the year with the resurgent Senators, to post 3 goals and 10 points in 33 games.

With the intention to gain a one-way contract in the NHL, Benoit succeeded in signing as a free agent to a one-year deal with the Colorado Avalanche on July 5, 2013.[9] Benoit made the 2013–14 opening night roster out of training camp, and on his Avalanche debut he logged a game-high in ice time in a 6-1 rout of the Anaheim Ducks on October 2, 2013.[10] Solidifying a blueline position with the Avalanche as a puck moving defenseman, Benoit scored his first goal for the Avalanche and became the first Blueliner in three years to record three points (a career high) in a 4-3 overtime win against the Phoenix Coyotes on November 21, 2013.[11] Benoit later appeared in his 100th career NHL game against the Coyotes on February 28, 2014.[12] In helping the surprising Avalanche capture the Central Division title, Benoit completed his first full NHL season, finishing third amongst Avalanche defenseman with 7 goals and 21 assists for 28 points in 79 games.

On July 23, 2014, Benoit signed as a free agent to a one-year, $800,000 contract with the Buffalo Sabres.[13] In the 2014–15 campaign, his second full NHL season, Benoit played 59 games among the cellar-dwelling Sabres, unable to match his previous season's success, contributing with 1 goal and 9 points from the blueline.

On July 6, 2015, having left the Sabres as a free agent, Benoit signed a one-year, two-way contract with the St. Louis Blues.[14] After three full seasons of playing in the NHL, Benoit was demoted to the AHL for the first time since 2012, having been reassigned to affiliate the Chicago Wolves to begin the 2015–16 season.

After managing just 2 further games in the NHL with the Blues, at the completion of his contract, Benoit opted to return to Europe, signing a one-year deal with Swedish club, the Malmö Redhawks of the SHL on July 22, 2016.[15] In his first return to the SHL since 2009, Benoit assumed a top four pairing role for the 2016–17 season with the Redhawks. Appearing in 52 games, Benoit registered 24 points and helped the club reach the semi-finals in the post-season. On April 12, 2017, it was announced that Benoit would not be continuing with Malmö.[16]

As a free agent, Benoit opted to return again to North America, securing a one-year, two-way NHL contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets on July 1, 2017.[17] He was assigned to play the 2017–18 season with AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters. In adding a veteran presence, Benoit appeared in 31 games for just 5 points before he was loaned to fellow AHL club, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers to play out the remainder of his career on February 13, 2018.[18]

Personal

A fire destroyed the St. Albert Cheese Factory in Benoit's hometown of St. Albert, Ontario, in February 2013, leaving 125 people – roughly one fifth of the town's population – out of work for the foreseeable future. Benoit, who worked at the factory as a teenager, responded by donating a pair of tickets to the Senators' Hockey Day in Canada game against the Winnipeg Jets to each employee affected by the fire.[19]

Following his retirement, Benoit founded and runs an online hockey school.[20]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2000–01 Kitchener Rangers OHL 65 16 19 35 37 — — — — —
2001–02 Kitchener Rangers OHL 62 13 32 45 77 4 1 0 1 8
2002–03 Kitchener Rangers OHL 65 22 45 67 77 21 1 16 17 16
2003–04 Kitchener Rangers OHL 65 24 51 75 67 5 1 1 2 6
2004–05 Kitchener Rangers OHL 67 24 53 77 72 15 5 13 18 6
2005–06 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 70 7 19 26 60 — — — — —
2006–07 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 64 10 21 31 41 22 2 11 13 22
2007–08 Tappara SM-l 54 12 26 38 96 11 2 3 5 10
2008–09 Södertälje SK SEL 54 4 16 20 34 — — — — —
2009–10 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 78 6 30 36 63 19 3 11 14 8
2010–11 Binghamton Senators AHL 73 11 44 55 53 23 3 15 18 14
2010–11 Ottawa Senators NHL 8 0 1 1 6 — — — — —
2011–12 Spartak Moscow KHL 53 5 11 16 34 — — — — —
2012–13 Binghamton Senators AHL 34 9 16 25 28 — — — — —
2012–13 Ottawa Senators NHL 33 3 7 10 8 5 0 3 3 0
2013–14 Colorado Avalanche NHL 79 7 21 28 26 7 0 1 1 6
2014–15 Buffalo Sabres NHL 59 1 8 9 20 — — — — —
2015–16 Chicago Wolves AHL 72 8 25 33 26 — — — — —
2015–16 St. Louis Blues NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2016–17 Malmö Redhawks SHL 52 6 18 24 22 13 0 2 2 8
2017–18 Cleveland Monsters AHL 31 1 4 5 22 — — — — —
2017–18 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 19 1 8 9 10 — — — — —
NHL totals 181 11 37 48 60 12 0 4 4 6

International
Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2002 Canada WJC18 6th 8 1 3 4 4
Junior totals 8 1 3 4 4

Awards and honours
Award Year
OHL
Memorial Cup 2003
William Hanley Trophy 2004
Second All-Star Team 2004
Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy 2005
First All-Star Team 2005
AHL
Calder Cup 2007, 2011
AHL Second All-Star Team 2011 [21]
International
Spengler Cup Champion 2007

References
  1. "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  2. "Canadiens sign defenseman Benoit to three-year contract". Montreal Canadiens. January 9, 2006. Archived from the original on May 19, 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2006.
  3. "Bulldogs claim Calder Cup". Montreal Canadiens. June 7, 2007. Retrieved August 6, 2010.
  4. "Strong points back to SSK" (in Swedish). Södertälje SK. July 4, 2008. Archived from the original on April 8, 2008. Retrieved July 7, 2008.
  5. "Habs sign Andre Benoit". Montreal Canadiens. May 13, 2009. Archived from the original on May 17, 2009. Retrieved May 14, 2009.
  6. "Bulletin: Senators sign defenseman Andre Benoit to a one-year contract". Ottawa Senators. August 6, 2010. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
  7. "Meet Andre Benoit" (in Russian). HC Spartak Moscow. August 11, 2011. Archived from the original on September 12, 2011. Retrieved August 11, 2011.
  8. "Senators 3, Islanders 1". Ottawa Senators. July 1, 2012. Archived from the original on May 26, 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  9. "Andre Benoit signed by Avs as NHL free-agency begins". Denver Post. July 5, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
  10. "Avalanche routs Ducks; Roy, MacKinnon have solid debuts". CBS Sports. October 2, 2013. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
  11. "OT goal by O'Reilly lifts Avalanche by Coyotes". National Hockey League. November 21, 2013. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  12. "Landeskog and Varlamov send Avalanche past Coyotes". CBS Sports. February 28, 2014. Retrieved February 28, 2014.
  13. "Sabres sign D Benoit to one-year deal". The Sports Network. July 23, 2014. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  14. "Blues sign Benoit to two-way contract". St. Louis Blues. July 6, 2015. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  15. "Change in Malmo defence" (in Swedish). Malmö Redhawks. July 21, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  16. "Players leave Redhawks" (in Swedish). Malmö Redhawks. April 12, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  17. "Blue Jackets sign defenseman Andre Benoit". Columbus Blue Jackets. July 1, 2017. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  18. "Blue Jackets loan Andre Benoit to Bridgeport Sound Tigers". Columbus Blue Jackets. February 13, 2018. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  19. "Sens, Benoit lend a hand". Ottawa Senators. September 2, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  20. "The Online Hockey School". theonlinehockeyschool.com. January 2, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  21. "First and Second All-Stars named". American Hockey League. April 1, 2011. Archived from the original on September 21, 2012. Retrieved April 5, 2011.
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