The journey to get to where he has was a long and winding one for Belzile, who hails from Saint-Eloi. If you look at a map of North America, Belzile has played on virtually all four corners of the continent with stops in Georgia (Gwinnett Gladiators - ECHL), Alaska (Alaska Aces - ECHL), and Texas (San Antonio Rampage - AHL) - among others - dotting the map alongside his native Quebec (Laval Rocket - AHL).
Belzile may be the very definition of what it means to be a hockey journeyman, but he knows himself well enough to believe that an All-Star, career season and subsequent NHL contract were always within reach.
"My goal is still to play in the NHL. I've never been the guy who tried to move three steps ahead instead of going step by step," explained Belzile, who noted he'd gone from healthy scratch to dominant force in both the ECHL and AHL along the way. "I trust my process, I trust my mentality. I'm a late bloomer. I know myself. I still know that I'm getting into my peak, getting into my best seasons right now. I think it's really positive with my late development: my best years are not behind me. It's the opposite: they're ahead of me."