Former Seattle Kraken veteran, Pierre-Édouard Bellemare will captain France in the upcoming Olympic Qualifiers.
The French Ice Hockey Federation named its roster for the upcoming Olympic qualifying tournament on Monday. Bellemare and Alexandre Texier are the lone NHL representatives on the roster but Bellemare is still without an NHL team following his 2023-24 campaign with the Kraken.
𝐂𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐓 𝐄𝐔𝐗 🫡
Eux, qui ont été choisis par Yorick Treille 🤝
Eux, qui représenteront les Bleus au TQO 🇫🇷
Eux, qui ont comme seule #MissionBleue : qualifier l’équipe de France aux Jeux Olympiques d’hiver 2026 🤩Rdv jeudi pour le 1er match !#TeamFranceHockey pic.twitter.com/qW5YytFeOm
— Équipes de France Hockey (@Hockey_FRA) August 26, 2024
In his one season with the Kraken, the 39-year-old scored four goals and seven points in 40 games while winning 53.5% of his face-offs. The Le Blanc-Mesnil native went undrafted but has enjoyed 10 seasons in the NHL where he has registered 700 games. In those 10 seasons, Bellemare has gone on two runs to the Stanley Cup but came out on the short end of the stick twice, once with the Vegas Golden Knights and then again with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The French team’s three opponents are Slovenia, Ukraine, and Latvia. Qualifying won’t be easy, but France and Latvia look to be the two favourites to compete for the qualification spot.
Bellemare has had a storied career in the NHL and Europe while playing in the SHL and would love to make one final impact with the French team before he calls quits on his career.
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