In the span of three seasons, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare's whirlwind hockey tour has gone from Paris to the NHL to Flyers alternate captain.
Its latest stop: Masterton Trophy nominee.
The 32-year-old on Tuesday was named the Flyers' nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy by the Philadelphia Chapter of the Pro Hockey Writers Association.
According to the NHL's website, the Masterton Trophy is an annual award under the trusteeship of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association and is given to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.
"You don't work to try and get this kind of reward," Bellemare said following Tuesday's morning skate, where the Flyers prepared for their matchup with the Ottawa Senators later on in the evening (see Skate Update). "My way to work is to try and be as helpful to the team as possible and try to help in anyway I can. Sometimes it could be on the bench and just trying to support the guys and sometimes it could be on the ice or making a big play on the PK.
"You don't really work for this reward, but it sure feels nice when somebody notices the work you're doing."
Each team has a Masterton nominee named every year. Former Flyer Jaromir Jagr took home last year's award, which saw Shayne Gostisbehere as the Flyers' nominee. The Flyers have had three previous Masterton winners -- Bobby Clarke in 1972, Tim Kerr in 1989 and Ian Laperriere in 2011.
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Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol feels Bellemare is a worthy nominee.
"If you look at the definition of the award, he fits the bill, absolutely" Hakstol said. "He's a great person. He's a great teammate and a leader and he's a guy that, night in and night out, he leaves everything he has out on the ice. I think it's real fitting."
Before the 2014-15 season, the Flyers signed Bellemare, who had never previously played in the NHL, to a free-agent deal. Bellemare came to camp in that fall, made the team and went on to play in 81 of 82 games. He fit in to key fourth-line and penalty-killing roles that he still plays in today. He's regularly matched up against the opposition's best players on any given night.
"It's been quite crazy, to be honest," Bellemare said of his time in the NHL thus far. "I'm happy the team trusted me with some big roles. It's a big step in a player's career to be able to play against those big guys and have more ice time against those big guys, so that was already an improvement for me."
In 230 NHL games, Bellemare has 11 goals and 17 assists for 32 points and isn't afraid to drop his gloves if the situation calls for it. He's grown as a respected leader on the club and, for that reason, he was named an alternate captain earlier this month when Mark Streit was dealt at the trade deadline. Around the same time, Bellemare was also given a two-year contract extension.
"The new contract, I'm just really happy the organization trusted me and put confidence in my to have me for two more years," he said.
"And then the alternate captain, a crazy surprise. I'm really happy about it. I've been doing my part of the work and I've been just trying to focus on what I can do to help the team and I got rewarded with a big "A" on the jersey. I never expected it, being so late in the NHL. I've had that role before, but I never thought I would get it in the NHL."