Montreal Canadiens forward Alex Belzile scored his first career goal on Sunday against the Edmonton Oilers.
The 31-year-old scored in his 20th NHL game after spending the vast majority of his career toiling away in the ECHL and AHL.
Belzile played for half a dozen ECHL teams before making his way back to the AHL, where he finally found a home with the Canadiens’ AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket.
Belzile is known as a leader in the locker room due to his calm demeanor and stoic approach, but he understandably had a difficult time keeping his cool after his goal.
His teammates were even more excited, knowing how hard the Quebec native has worked to reach the NHL.
Belzile was a promising prospect who actually played for the Canadiens’ former AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs.
But a concussion set his career back significantly, leaving the ECHL as his only option to pursue his NHL dreams. At one point while playing with the Alaska Aces, Belzile was made a healthy scratch, which signalled rock bottom for the hard-working forward.
However, Belzile never gave up, and slowly worked his way up the lineup.
He performed admirably with several ECHL teams before earning a contract with the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage, which led him to a deal with the Laval Rocket.
Belzile earned an impressive 19 goals and 35 assists in 74 games with the Rocket in 2018-19, and hasn’t looked back since.
The Rocket named Belzile as their captain this season, owing to his ability to make every newcomer feel at home in the locker room.
The goal was Belzile’s fifth point in seven games since being called up, a rather impressive haul given he’s allocated limited minutes on the fourth line.
It’s difficult to project where Belzile will end up in the future, but at the very least, he’s achieved a lifelong dream of scoring with the Canadiens, and he did it through sheer will and hard work.
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