Leblanc Signs with Montreal
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MONTREAL -- Montreal Canadiens General Manager, Pierre Gauthier,
announced today the signing of Harvard forward Louis Leblanc to a
three-year contract. As per Club policy, financial terms of the
agreement were not disclosed. Leblanc was selected in the first
round, 18th overall, by the Canadiens at the 2009 NHL Entry
Draft.
In 2009-10, Leblanc suited up with the Harvard Crimson in the
ECAC. As a freshman with the Ivy League team, the
6’1’’ and 184 lbs centreman led his team in
several offensive categories, including goals (11), assists (12),
points (23), game-winning goals (3) in 31 games and ranked second
for power-play tallies (3) and shots on goal (101). The youngest
player on the Crimson team, Leblanc was named Ivy League Rookie of
the Year, was a finalist for ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Year and was
named to the ECAC All-Rookie team. Following the 2009-10 season,
the Kirkland native was named to Canada’s National Junior
Team Camp in preparation of the World Junior Hockey Championship to
start on December 26, 2010 in Buffalo, NY.
Prior to enrolling at Harvard, Leblanc, made his mark with the
Omaha Lancers in the USHL, leading that team with 59 points in 60
games and earning the Rookie of the Year honour in 2008-09. Before
joining the Lancers, Leblanc played for the Lac St. Louis Lions,
leading the Quebec Midget AAA Hockey League in goals (54) and
points (91) playing 43 games in 2007-08. On the international
stage, he was a member of Team Quebec at the 2008 World Under-17
Hockey Challenge and the 2007 Canada Winter Games. The following
year he played for Team Canada at the 2008 Under-18 Ivan Hlinka
Memorial tournament scoring three goals (3-2-5), helping Canada win
gold.
