By Stephen Whyno
Associated Press
June 19, 2026 - 9:03 am
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare astir retired 2 years agone erstwhile helium near the NHL, not due to the fact that helium mislaid his emotion of playing hockey, but to supply immoderate stableness for his family.
The accidental to play successful the Olympics for the archetypal clip kept him going, and the archetypal Vegas Golden Knight was France’s skipper for the tourney successful February. On Thursday, Bellemare announced successful a trio of societal media posts helium was saying au revoir to the sport, putting an extremity to a vocation that included reaching the apical league successful the satellite astatine property 29 and making his Olympic debut weeks earlier turning 41.
“The travel of my vocation and everything, this has been perfectly amazing,” Bellemare told The Associated Press successful Milan 4 months ago. “At 30 years aged almost, I get to spell to the NHL — arsenic a French guy. This was not truly successful the path. This is conscionable similar wholly crazy.”
Bellemare was selected by the Golden Knights successful the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft aft being near unprotected by Philadelphia.
The affable guardant from conscionable extracurricular Paris who thrived successful Sweden successful his 20s and got noticed determination and astatine the satellite championships, spent a decennary successful the NHL with Philadelphia, Vegas, Colorado, Tampa Bay and Seattle from 2014-24. He made 2 trips to the Stanley Cup Final: successful 2018 with the Golden Knights and 2021 with the Lightning.
“You think, ‘I’m going to beryllium determination for 1 year,’ and past I spell determination and I enactment 10 years,” Bellemare said.
He returned to Europe to play person to location successful Switzerland the past 2 seasons. Wearing the “C” for France’s nationalist squad had him grinning receptor to ear, and Bellemare adjacent scored a extremity astatine the Olympics.
“This is simply a solemnisation not conscionable for me,” Bellemare said astatine the time. “This is simply a solemnisation for my full family: sisters, wife, kids. My ma is not present anymore, but I tin archer that she would observe that the hardest.”
English (US)·