France captain Pierre-Edouard Bellemare soaks up finally making the Olympics at 40

MILAN (AP) — Hockey was not televised, at least not for free, in France when Pierre-Edouard Bellemare was growing up there. The rare chance he got to watch the sport he loved came every four years at the Olympics.

“I was born into this Olympic family where if you ever made the Olympics, it’s an accomplishment of a lifetime,” Bellemare said.

Bellemare is now France's captain at the Milan Cortina Olympics and its elder statesman at 40 after helping his country qualify for the first time since 2002. After finally getting to the NHL at age 29 and playing a decade in the best league in the world, this is Bellemare's last big event before hanging up his skates and calling it a career.

With France a significant underdog, Bellemare is out to have fun while also showing he and his teammates belong.

“It’s tough to wash off my smile right now. I’m having a blast,” Bellemare said Wednesday after France's third practice at the brand-new Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. “This is the last chance for me, so it is kind of like, ’All right, you have to enjoy it.' But on the other hand, I feel this pride to be here and to have my country on me, so I want to play good for the team and do everything I can to earn the respect that I feel like we need to do. We’re here to get the respect from all the other nations.”

France has odds of 150-1 to take home a medal of any kind, 300-1 to finish first in its group and 750-1 win gold, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. The odds of Bellemare making it to this point might be even higher.

When he went to play professionally in Sweden as a 21-year-old, he said, “At that time, there was no respect for a French player, really.” All he did was lead the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan in goals one season and won the elite Swedish Hockey League championship twice.

Not long after scoring the shootout winner to stun Canada at the 2014 world championships, Bellemare signed his first NHL contract — one year for just above the league minimum at $600,000 — with Philadelphia.

“I get to go to the NHL — as a French guy,” Bellemare said. “This was not really in the path. This is just like totally crazy. You think, ‘I’m going to be there for one year,’ and then I go there and I stay 10 years.”

During that time, Bellemare skated in 700 regular-season and 85 playoff games for the Flyers, Golden Knights, Avalanche, Lightning and Kraken. He made two trips to the Stanley Cup Final, in 2018 with Vegas and 2022 with Tampa Bay, and made a name for himself back home that still resonates.

"Obviously huge respect," said teammate Yohann Auvitu, in his first Olympics at 36. “Playing 700 games over there is pretty hard. And lasting so long to (almost) 41, this is exceptional.”

France has only one current NHL player, Alexandre Texier, and goaltender Antoine Keller was drafted by Washington in 2023. Everyone looks up to Bellemare in large part because of the winding road it took to get here.

"His path, it’s different than anyone," coach Yorick Treille said. “His whole career was based on hard work, leading by example. He’s the kind of guy that does everything right. And as far as all the intangibles and all the off-ice and how he approaches his craft and his career, it’s a great example for everyone, and he’s our natural leader.”

Auvitu, who played 58 games for New Jersey and Edmonton from ’16-18, also called Bellemare a natural leader: someone who does not yell but knows how to communicate with players of any age.

“He can adapt to different people, different humans,” Auvitu said. “We are all different, right? So, he can talk to a 22-year-old or, like me, at 36.”

Bellemare was 20 the first time he played to get France into the Olympics, then 24, 28, 32, 36 and 40. Every time they fell short, until making the cut this time only when Russia was ruled ineligible to participate.

After planning to retire two years ago, Bellemare considers the Games in Milan a celebration for his entire family, with his wife, kids and sisters expected to attend. He doesn't know exactly what it will feel like on the ice but has a little bit of an idea.

“It’s going to be kind of like my first game in the NHL,” Bellemare said. “Open your eyes, enjoy it and then make sure that every shift, it’s like the last one because this is the top.”

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

France's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare moves the puck during a training session prior to the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

France's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare skate on the ice during a training session prior to the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

France's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare moves the puck during a training session prior to the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

France's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare skate on the ice during a training session prior to the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Gunmen killed at least 13 people in northern Nigeria, the police said Wednesday, the latest in a surge of attacks that has plagued the West African country.

The attackers, “armed with dangerous weapons, began shooting sporadically” on Tuesday in Doma village in the Faskari area of northwestern Katsina state, police spokesman Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu said in a statement.

Investigations were underway to determine the circumstances and identify those responsible, he added.

In a separate attack on Tuesday, armed men killed several people in the Woro and Nuku communities in north-central Kwara state on Tuesday, Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq said in statement. He did not provide a figure for the number of people killed, but local reports put the death toll at over 30. The police in the state are yet to comment.

AbdulRazaq called the attack a “cowardly expression of frustration by terrorist cells” in response to ongoing counterterrorism operations in the state.

Nigeria is in the grip of a complex security crisis, with an insurgency by Islamic militants in the northeast alongside a surge in kidnappings for ransom by gunmen across the northwest and north-central regions over recent months.

Last week, armed extremists in northeastern Nigeria killed at least 36 people during separate attacks on a construction site and on an army base.

On Tuesday, the head of U.S. Africa Command said the United States had sent a small team of military officers to Nigeria, the latest step in its response to the security crisis. In December, U.S. forces launched airstrikes on a cell affiliated with the Islamic State group in Nigeria.

Nigeria has been in the diplomatic crosshairs of the U.S. following threats by President Donald Trump to attack the country, alleging it is not doing enough to protect its Christian citizens.

FILE - Nigeria police officers stand guard during a candle light procession in honour of all protesters killed nationwide at the recently economic hardship protest, in Lagos, Nigeria, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba, file)