‘This is it’: France’s Pierre-Edouard Bellemare confirms retirement following Olympic exit
The French men’s hockey team lost their qualifying game against Germany 5-1 on Tuesday, knocking them out of the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics and putting end to the international career of arguably their most accomplished hockey player of all time.
After the game, forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare confirmed that “this is it” with regards to his time playing for France’s national team.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare says, “This is it.” Asked if he could play in 2030 — when France hosts — Bellemare said physically, he feels he could, but he owes it to his family to stop. No more moving around, deciding which toys his young children can keep; allowing his wife to
The veteran said he believes he can physically still play, but wants to commit more time to his family.
Bellemare, 40, came to the NHL at the age of 29 after playing 11 professional seasons in Europe. He would go on to spend 10 years in the NHL, split between the Philadelphia Flyers, Vegas Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche, and Seattle Kraken. He is the all-time leader among French-born players with 700 NHL games played. His 138 career points is second all-time among French-born players behind Antoine Roussel.
Bellemare’s last year in the NHL was in the 2023-24 season with the Kraken. He has played the last two seasons with Ajoie HC of the Swiss National League. Ajoie has five game left in their regular season and sits dead last in the standings. Bellemare did not explicitly state whether he plans to finish up his season with Ajoie or hang up his skates right away.
Immediately prior to coming over to the NHL, Bellemare played five seasons for Skelleftea AIK of the Swedish Hockey League, also known as the Swedish Elite League. In each of his final two seasons with Skelleftea AIK, he won the Le Mat Trophy as Swedish Hockey League champions.
These Milano Cortina games were Bellemare’s first opportunity to represent his country at the Olympics. He scored France’s lone goal in their loss to Germany. Bellemare has represented France at 12 IIHF World Championships, and also played on Team Europe at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.