Despite an improbable 10-year NHL career, it appears that former Philadelphia Flyers fan favorite forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare has reached the end of his journey in the best hockey league on the planet.
Bellemare, 39, was most recently participating in training camp with the Colorado Avalanche on a professional tryout offer but was released on Oct. 3 as part of the team’s roster cuts.
The decision to move on from Bellemare, rather than offer him a contract, surprised Avalanche reporters, Avalanche fans, and the hockey community alike.
“Bellemare will be missed. His personality is something any dressing room would love to have,” Colorado Hockey Now colleague Aarif Deen remarked. “And he’s the most well-thought-out interview I’ve experienced in the NHL. I thought he fared well in limited preseason action.”
Bellemare, a native of Le Blanc-Mesnil, France, made his breakthrough at the NHL level after betting on himself and signing a one-year, two-way contract with the Philadelphia Flyers way back in 2014.
Then 29 years old, Bellemare appeared in 81 games, scoring six goals, six assists, and 12 points whilst quickly establishing himself as one of the NHL’s best and most reliable defensive forwards.
After a three-year career with the Flyers that spanned from 2014 to 2017, Bellemare was claimed by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 expansion draft, helping guide the fledgling organization to the Stanley Cup Final in its debut season.
Bellemare spent two years with Vegas, two with Colorado, two with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and last season with the Seattle Kraken before the Avs offered him a tryout.
If this is it for Bellemare in the NHL, one of hockey’s greatest recent underdog stories concludes its final chapter after 64 goals, 74 assists, and 138 points in exactly 700 regular season games.
As a Flyer, Bellemare had 17 goals, 17 assists, and 34 points in 237 games and received a vote for the Frank J. Selke Trophy for the 2016-17 season.
