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Craig Billington completed his third season as the Avalanche's Director of Player Development. The former NHL goaltender oversees Colorado's entire minor league system, including the club's AHL and CHL affiliates, and each of the major junior, college and minor league prospects. He also handles various scouting tasks.
The Avalanche named Billington as the organization's goaltending consultant on Jan. 6, 2003, with the added responsibility of Director of Player Development in the summer of 2003. No stranger to the organization, Billington donned an Avalanche sweater for three seasons from 1996-97 to 1998-99.
Billington, 40, competed in the National Hockey League for 15 seasons. A native of London, Ontario, Billington was New Jersey's second choice, 23rd overall, in the 1984 Entry Draft out of Belleville (OHL).
Between 1985 and 1990, he split time between the Devils and their American Hockey League affiliate at the time, the Utica Devils. He played two full seasons with New Jersey in 1991-92 and 1992-93 before joining the Ottawa Senators. 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. In 1993, Billington was selected to play in the NHL All-Star Game.
Craig and his wife, Jocelyn, reside in Denver. | 