Louis Leblanc

Louis Jean Joseph Leblanc (born January 26, 1991) was a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre.

Leblanc was born to Yves and Marie Leblanc in Pointe-Claire, a suburb of Montreal, on January 26, 1991.

The last francophone selected in the first round of the Entry Draft by the Canadiens had been Eric Chouinard in 1998.

Coaches and scouts for the Canadiens praised Leblanc for his speed, determination, goal-scoring ability, and his willingness to go to the corners for the puck.

Canadiens General Manager Bob Gainey felt that Leblanc's decision to move to the United States to play in the USHL—rather than stay in his native Quebec with the QMJHL, which would have been the easier choice, would help his development as a player and displayed the type of character the team sought.

As a youth, he played in the 2004 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Lakeshore Minor Hockey Association.

After playing with Lakeshore, it became apparent that he had the ability to pursue the sport at a higher level; at the age of 15, he joined the Lac St. Louis Lions, a midget team based in Montreal.

He played two seasons for the Lions and led the triple-A league in scoring both times.

Leblanc was selected 18th overall by the Val-d'Or Foreurs in the 2007 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) draft.

Leblanc played minor hockey in the Montreal region before he moved to the United States in 2008, playing one season with the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League (USHL) and becoming Rookie of the Year.

Internationally, Leblanc played in the 2008 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, where Canada won the gold medal, and in the 2011 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, where he helped Canada win a silver medal.

Leblanc was considered a draft bust, having failed to reach his potential and retiring from hockey at an early age.

As he wished to attend an American university, he went instead to the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League (USHL) where he spent the 2008–09 season, playing in 60 games and finishing with 28 goals and 31 assists for 59 points.

He led the team in points scored and tied for tenth overall in the USHL; his goal total was tied for eighth overall, and the six game-winning goals Leblanc scored were tied for second overall.

In recognition of his performance that season, the USHL named him the league's rookie of the year.

Eligible for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, he was selected 18th overall by the Montreal Canadiens.

Yves Leblanc was employed as a chemist by Merck Frosst, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, in Montreal before transferring to their facility at Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2009; he worked four-day weeks and returned to Montreal on weekends.

Marie was a piano teacher.

His younger brother Jean also plays hockey.

Growing up in the West Island town of Kirkland, Quebec, Leblanc skated from the age of three and entered organized hockey two years later.

At the end of the season, Leblanc was ranked by the National Hockey League (NHL) Central Scouting Bureau as a top prospect for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft; their final list had him 13th overall among North American skaters, and he was ultimately selected 18th overall by the Montreal Canadiens, who hosted the draft.

Leblanc enrolled at Harvard University in September 2009, and began playing for the university's hockey team, the Crimson.

In his one year at Harvard, he led the team in goals (11), assists (12) and points (23).

Named the Ivy League rookie of the year, he was also a finalist for the ECAC rookie of the year.

He then enrolled at Harvard University and spent one season with the Crimson, being named Ivy League rookie of the year, before he signed a contract with the Canadiens in 2010.

Later that year Leblanc joined the Montreal Juniors, who had earlier acquired his Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) playing rights.

In mid-2010, Leblanc's QMJHL rights were owned by the Montreal Junior Hockey Club (Montreal Juniors)—his rights having been traded from Val-d'Or to the Chicoutimi Saguenéens in 2009, then to the Juniors in June 2010.

On July 30, Leblanc signed a three-year contract with the Canadiens, and he attended a training camp with the team in September.

By signing a professional contract, he forfeited his National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) eligibility and had to leave Harvard, being considered a professional according to NCAA standards.

Following the camp, the Canadiens announced on September 27 that they were returning him to the Juniors for the 2010–11 season.

He finished 2010–11 with 58 points in 51 games for the Juniors.

In the off-season, the team relocated to Boisbriand, a suburb of Montreal, and were renamed the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada; the team traded Leblanc's major junior rights to the Shawinigan Cataractes.

Before he had a chance to play for the Cataractes, the Canadiens exercised their contract rights to him, putting him in the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League (AHL), the Canadiens' minor league affiliate.

Leblanc made his professional debut on October 27, 2011 with the Bulldogs, and scored three points, including the game-winning goal in overtime, to give his team a 3–2 victory over the Rochester Americans.

After 14 games with the Bulldogs, in which he recorded 10 points, Leblanc was recalled by the Canadiens and made his NHL debut on November 30 against the Anaheim Ducks.

His first point, an assist on a goal by Andrei Kostitsyn, came on December 3, against the Los Angeles Kings, while his first NHL goal was against Sergei Bobrovsky in a 4–3 loss against the Philadelphia Flyers on December 15.

Leblanc split the remainder of the season between Montreal and Hamilton.

Leblanc spent three seasons with the Canadiens, mainly playing for their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, before being traded in 2014 to the Anaheim Ducks, who kept him in the AHL.

In 2015, Leblanc moved to Europe, joining HC Slovan Bratislava of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), though he played only seven games for them before being released.

After appearing in four games for Lausanne HC of the Swiss National League A, he retired from hockey.