A Winner At Every Level
-- by Justin Dahan;
There are some things in life you can’t learn. Winning is one of them. You can have all the skill in the world but without the drive to win you having nothing. Andre Benoit happens to be a young defensemen who has what it takes to win.
Benoit has won at every level he has played. He has won at the international level where he just recently helped Team Canada take home the Spengler Cup. In the tournament, Benoit recorded 4 points in 8 games.
Last year he helped the Hamilton Bulldogs win the Calder Cup. He also has a Memorial Cup under his belt with the Kitchener Rangers in 2003 where he recorded 1 goal and 2 assists in the final game.
Benoit’s hardware doesn’t end there, in 2003/2004 Benoit illustrated enough class and sportsmanship to win the William Hanley Trophy, which is the OHL’s version of the Lady Byng Trophy.
The next year Benoit became the All Time leading scorer among defensemen for the Kitchener Rangers, he recorded 77 points. He was also awarded the Leo Lalonde Trophy for the best overage player.
After that Benoit was given an AHL contract with the Hamilton Bulldogs where he was able to impress Montreal Canadiens GM Bob Gainey enough to get an NHL contract. Although Benoit had impressive training camps, he didn’t feel that Montreal’s management was giving him a fair shot to make the team. With that in mind he took his act on the road and signed with a professional Finnish team where he would make more money and continue to develop his craft.
Now Benoit is playing for the Tappara Tampere. He’s off to a fine start with 8 goals and 23 points in 33 games.
Benoit hasn’t given up on his NHL dream. He hopes to follow in the footsteps of the Florida Panthers Cory Murphy. After playing in Finland, Murphy successfully returned to the NHL this year.
Murphy and Benoit share a few similarities. Both are small by NHL standards for defensemen and both play an offensive game.
It’s only a matter of time before Benoit finds himself in the NHL spotlight. Right now he is still property of the Montreal Canadiens, a team he grew up cheering for, perhaps that is where he hopes to return to, if Bob Gainey will have him this time around.
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