Frenchman Bellemare has a shot at making Flyers roster

At 29, after a long and unusual journey that culminated with him signing a free-agent deal with the Flyers in June, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare is knocking on the NHL door.

Raised in Paris, Bellemare could become the ninth French-born player to reach the NHL, according to Hockey-Reference.com. With a strong camp, which starts Friday morning in Voorhees, Bellemare may earn a spot as a fourth-line center, or perhaps as a left winger on another line.

"It would be an honor for our whole country to have a French guy here," he said.

Dallas left winger Antoine Roussel is the lone native Frenchman now playing in the NHL.

"He sets such an example for the whole country," Bellemare said proudly.

Bellemare had 20 goals for his championship Swedish League team last season, and he scored the shootout winner as France jolted Canada in the preliminary round of the IIHF World Championships last May.

Flyers coach Craig Berube has watched Bellemare on video, and he likes the scouting reports he has seen.

"He's a skilled guy. He's got good hands, a real good release of his shot, and he skates well," Berube said. "Now you have to see him under pressure, see him in all situations."

When he was a youngster, Bellemare and his brother went to watch their sister play hockey. He tried skating there and caught the eye of an instructor, "and he told my mom she should put us in hockey," he recalled in perfect English after working out Monday at the Skate Zone.

Bellemare, a friendly and gregarious sort, became entrenched in the sport. He spent the last eight years playing in Sweden.

Early in his career, he could sense the Swedes were making fun of his French. To combat that, he learned one Swedish phrase: "I know what you're saying."

The harassment stopped.

Cristobal Huet and some other former French players who reached the NHL told Bellemare that, at 29, his time was running out if he wanted to advance his career. "They pushed me and said I have to take the next step now," he said.

In the offseason, the Canadiens and Flyers showed the most interest. Bellemare bypassed Montreal and signed a two-way contract with the Flyers.

"I felt like they were really wanting me," Bellemare said. "I'm going to live here, so you want the guys and the organization to want to have you here; otherwise, it's kind of hard from the start. And I watched a couple of their games, and I like the physical way the Flyers play."

Bellemare added: "I felt the Flyers were more fitted for me, and my fiancee is half American, and that made the whole decision easier, too."

So she had a role in the decision?

"Oh, she always has a role," he said, drawing laughter.

He has been living in a Voorhees hotel, but he visited Philadelphia for the first time Friday.

"I think it's big," he said with a smile. "I enjoy what I saw. I'm from Paris, so I'm not that shocked. But the cars are not the same, the streets are not the same. In France, it's much more narrow. We have places where people go running. Here, it can be 8 o'clock at night and you see people coming every way. It's a change, but it's been really positive, for sure."

Berube said the versatile Bellemare will get a look at center. That means he probably will battle Scott Laughton, Chris VandeVelde, and Darroll Powe for the fourth-line spot.