 Craig BillingtonVice President of Player Development Craig Billington just finished his 11th year as a member of the Avalanche's front office, his fifth as vice president. Billington, 47, oversees each of the major junior, college and minor league prospects throughout the organization. He also handles various scouting tasks and works closely with Avalanche General Manager Greg Sherman in the day-to-day operations of the franchise. The London, Ontario native started as the club’s goaltending consultant before being named Director of Player Development. He added the title of vice president in the summer of 2008. No stranger to the organization, Billington donned an Avalanche sweater for three seasons from 1996-97 to 1998-99. Billington was New Jersey’s second choice, 23rd overall, in the 1984 Entry Draft and competed in the NHL for 15 seasons. Between 1985 and 1990, he split time between the Devils and their American Hockey League affiliate in Utica. He played two full seasons with New Jersey in 1991-92 and 1992-93 before joining the Ottawa Senators. In 1993, Billington was selected to play in the NHL All-Star Game. He was traded to Boston during the 1994-95 campaign and after spending a season-and-a-half with the Bruins, he signed with the Florida Panthers as a free agent on Sept. 5, 1996. Twenty-five days later, he was added to the Avalanche roster via the Waiver Draft. While with Colorado, Billington averaged over 1,000 minutes of playing time a season as backup to Patrick Roy while consistently maintaining a sub-3.00 goals against average, including a career-best 2.32 GAA in 1997-98. Craig was dealt to Washington for future considerations during the summer of 1999, where he played three-plus seasons before hanging up the skates midway through the 2002-03 season. ‘Biller’ played in two World Junior Championships and backstopped Canada to the 1985 World Junior title. Craig and his wife, Jocelyn, have two daughters, Ella and Kate. |
