Éric Bélanger (born December 16, 1977 in Sherbrooke,
Quebec, Canada) is a Canadian professional hockey
centre. He currently plays for the National Hockey
League's Minnesota Wild.
He was drafted in the fourth round, ninety-sixth
overall, by the Los Angeles Kings in the 1996 NHL
Entry Draft. Before making his NHL debut, Belanger
played with the Beauport Harfangs and Rimouski
Océanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League,
Fredericton Canadiens, Springfield Falcons and
Lowell Lock Monsters of the American Hockey League
and the Long Beach Ice Dogs of the International
Hockey League. Belanger made his NHL debut on
October 6, 2000. During the 2004-2005 NHL Lockout,
Belanger played for Hockey Club Bolzano in Italy.
On September 29, 2006, Belanger and Tim Gleason were
traded to the Hurricanes for Oleg Tverdovsky and
Jack Johnson. On February 9, 2007, Belanger was
traded to the Nashville Predators in exchange for
center Josef Vasicek. The following day, he was sent
to Atlanta for defensemen Vitaly Vishnevski.
