He may be just one of four Flyers that are pointless through the first two games, but Pierre-Edouard Bellemare isn’t letting that faze him.
Nor is he letting his age be a cause for concern.
Sure, 31 years old doesn’t seem like much to an everyday person. James Mirtle, who produces a yearly team-by-team comparison for age, height and weight lists 27.3 as the median in the league. That places Bellemare four years older than the average, and he’ll be turning 32 before the season ends.
On the Flyers roster, he finds himself as the fourth oldest to suit up behind Mark Streit, Nick Schultz and Boyd Gordon. Those three, though, have 41 years of NHL experience altogether.
Bellemare? This is just his third year, making him an interesting case study.
“I know people keep saying an old guy can’t improve no more,” Bellemare said. “But that’s what I’ve been trying, trying to learn and to get my game better.”
There’s been an adjustment period for Bellemare since arriving to Philadelphia on June 11, 2014 from the Swedish Hockey League. In his final season overseas, he scored 20 goals with 15 assists in 52 games. When he arrived to the Flyers, he assumed a different role on a checking line with players like Ryan White and Chris VandeVelde.
Establishing himself as one of the better penalty killers on the team, Bellemare wants to take another step forward this season. He wants to regain some of his offensive touch.
“I think that the next step is to be a better player offensively and to help the team,” Bellemare said.
“The confidence is going to help quite a lot.”
What he’s referring to is the confidence he gained from playing on Team Europe in the World Cup of Hockey. He took on a different role there, one more familiar to him in the SHL. Bellemare scored one and assisted on another in six tournament games. He played on the third line and held his own against high-end competition.
“You go to a tournament where you play against the best players in the world every single shift, you can’t make a fool out of yourself,” Bellemare explained. “That helps a person gain confidence.”
Head coach Dave Hakstol says management was watching the tournament very closely and caught wind of what Bellemare was doing. They liked what they saw, so much so that they opted to begin the season with Bellemare centering the third line.
He remains there for now, but for how long remains the question. The lineup will shuffle a bit once Brayden Schenn fulfills his three-game suspension after Tuesday’s game.
If Bellemare remains where he’s at, it’ll be because of the faith the Flyers have in him to carry out a more offensive role.
“We’re going to ask him to make a few more plays,” Hakstol said before the season began.
The second-year coach calls Bellemare “a strong two-way centerman.” He doesn’t believe he’ll have to change much moving up a line, citing his minutes as last season as “third line minutes” anyways.
Bellemare agrees.
“The fact that I’m getting the third line spot does not change the way I play,” Bellemare said.
“The only thing now… it’s not only about helping the top two lines to rest or losing momentum, we’re going to have to create the momentum more than you do with the fourth line. That’s the small difference.
The French native has certainly takes forward in his young NHL career. He says his play with the puck is faster which makes his decision-making second-nature finally. He wants his third improvement to be attacking the net.
For the second time in about six months, Bellemare referenced Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn as guys he wants to model his game after. At his exit interview, he applauded Simmonds for how he could run over anyone to get his spot in front and how Schenn took a big step forward last season doing the same.
Now he wants to take that step.
“That’s something I still have to improve but it’s getting better since I’ve been here,” he said. “To be in the places where Brayden Schenn is, where Simmy is, this is the thing I’m trying to improve on and what I want to do.”
He may be among the oldest on the team, but just like his linemate Nick Cousins or either of the 19-year-old rookies, Bellemare is still developing. The only difference with him is that he’s also trying to defy father time.
