Answering the Belle

When Dave Hakstol and Kraken players talk about Pierre-Edouard Bellemare’s value as a teammate, there are some common elements: Always a slight pause of seeming appreciation, often a smile or wry grin, and, without fail, words of praise.

“He brings a lot of leadership,” said Kraken alternate captain Yanni Gourde. “He’s a very vocal guy. He brings a calm demeanor on the bench, which really helps this group.”

“Belly has fit in so well,” said defenseman and fellow penalty killer Jamie Oleksiak. “He's an easy guy to play with, very vocal out there. He's been around long enough, he understands the game and can adapt quickly. He’s been great for the team in the faceoff circle too.”

In fact, Hakstol has routinely sent Bellemare out to take late-game-on-the-line faceoffs in the defensive zone in recent weeks. Bellemare was out there going up against Leon Draisaitl in Edmonton on Wednesday when Draisaitl appeared to interfere with Bellemare once the puck was being played elsewhere, by holding Bellemare down long enough to set up what developed into a scoring play. The Kraken bench was livid about the non-call.

The replay shows how a half-second (Bellemare’s guesstimate of how long he was pinned) could have altered the shot and outcome. After the game, Dave Hakstol, who coached Bellemare when the Seattle head coach held the same job in Philadelphia, rose to Bellemare’s defense of the 38-year-old veteran center, saying he was “bulldogged.”

Saturday night with a 4-3 victory over Vancouver hanging in the balance, Hakstol tagged Bellemare again to take a crucial late-game faceoff in the defensive zone. Ten seconds later, game over and the first of four straight division games can be marked a “W.”

“Belly is all-in when it comes to the team,” said Hakstol. “Whatever the team needs, that's what he wants to bring. He's also a guy that brings honesty. He's got a calmness to him. He knows how things should be done on the ice and in and around the rink. He's willing to talk to guys about it. That brings a level of accountability. He's really effective in that role.”

In training camp, Bellemare worked extra time with 2022 first-rounder Shane Wright on faceoff drills, who could be argued as his competitor on the depth chart. When asked what lessons he could pass on to Wright (who is scoring near a point-per-game average with AHL Coachella Valley), Bellemare said he talked more about what an NHL center finds hard to counter in the faceoff dot, providing valuable insight into what the other guy is thinking and strategizing.

Wright, of course, dreamed about playing in the NHL from early days. Bellemare? When asked expectantly to trace his earliest memory of living out his own NHL dream, the answer is he never really thought about it until was offered his first contract in 2014 at 28 years old. He had played nearly a decade in Sweden’s pro leagues by then, debuting in the French pro league as a 17-year-old. His childhood dream was to play for the French national team.

“Our national team is a family,” said Bellemare, practically aPhD in esprit de corps. “It's not a national team really. And the reason why is because you grow up, you're 16 years old, and then you're going to be with 20-some guys. There’s only about 30 guys that [national team officials] you can really choose from. If you're one of the top guys, you're going to be seeing those guys for the rest of your life. It's an honor to wear the jersey with the logo of our country.”

Bellemare has been a star for France at the IIHF World Championships, though he resists the label or even the trapping. In 2017, France upset heavily favored Finland at the Worlds, 5-1, and Bellemare was set to receive the traditional player of the game award. Instead, he waived the honor and excitedly recommended it be bestowed on Florian Hardy, the French goaltender who made 42 saves in that game.

Before becoming a hockey phenom in his country, Bellemare lived with his family in a Paris suburb, his dad a native of the Caribbean island of Martinique, and his mother the rock of his world until she died of cancer last January. Bellemare’s older sister wanted to play hockey, so Bellemare tagged along. His mom’s recurrence of cancer early last NHL season and death hit Bellemare hard, apparent from his honest and emotional answers during media interviews. He credits his mom with his ability to feel comfortable and confident instantly in locker rooms from Tampa Bay to Colorado to the PNW.

“I'd say it all comes from my mom, her values, what she said without even realizing it was going to affect me that much,” said Bellemare.

Bellemare is clearly a vocal and friendly individual (he calls himself “loud”). What passed through from mother to son is an unstoppable positive mindset.

“Negativity is contagious, as well as positivity,” said Bellemare, who can bequeath the media with life nuggets unknowingly, same as “Mama.” “If I come here every morning and you have a tough day, for whatever reason, you feel like complaining ... I'm not going to answer with the same negativity. I'm going to go against it ... Then the next time when you come and you see me, suddenly when I say hey, ‘what's up today?’ you're not going to have the same negativity. You're going to be a little bit more positive.”

Bellemare has strung together season faceoff percentages of 51.4, 54.7, 53.0, 60.8, 51.7, 52.3 over the last six seasons comprised of two years each with Vegas, Colorado and Tampa Bay. He is currently at 52.6 percent with the Kraken. Along with his faceoff prowess, Bellemare was instantly a penalty-kill fixture for the coaching staff and can be regularly observed conversing and learning with assistant coach Dave Lowry, two wise heads in pursuit of victories and clean PK sheets.

When asked about getting “bulldogged” in Edmonton, no surprise that Bellemare did not complain or lament. He called it a pick, implying it was illegal and explained how it slowed his “come up” in which he was hurried into an attempted shot block. He offered maybe he or another centerman might try the same move in those circumstances. He was ready for the next question and the next game and the next late-game faceoff duel.