Penguins Prospect Update: Bellerive Comes Alive

I vividly recall watching center Jordy Bellerive skate at the 2017 Prospects Challenge as an 18-year-old and being very impressed. The feisty 5’10”, 194-pounder dominated the tournament to the tune of four goals and three assists in three games, including a hat trick against the Devils’ prospects. An intriguing blend of skill, speed and sand, I felt the Pens had a can’t-miss prospect on their hands.

Apparently they thought so, too. Shortly after the tournament ended the black and gold inked the undrafted North Vancouver native to a three-year entry contract.

Bellerive rewarded the team’s faith with a monster season at Lethbridge in 2017-18, piling up 46 goals and 92 points during the regular season and 25 points in 16 postseason contests. It appeared the scouting staff had, indeed, unearthed an overlooked gem.

Then came that fateful Friday evening in the summer of 2018 that altered the course of his career. Bellerive and two others suffered severe burns when a substance placed in a fire pit caused a campfire explosion. The Pens’ prospect sustained burns to his stomach, legs and hands…a hockey player’s livelihood.

However, his tweeted statement a few days later revealed his uncommon character, fortitude and resolve.

“I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has reached out to my family and I sending us your well wishes. The support truly means the world to us. My friends and I have gone through a very hard time lately and our doing our best to stay positive. Although I have suffered from some very severe and painful burns, I am doing better each day. I am on my way to making a full recovery…”

Following nearly two weeks in the hospital, Bellerive resumed training at the gym, even though he hadn’t received medical clearance from his doctors. To the contrary, they suggested he might need to skip a season of hockey to allow his body to heal.

Bellerive would have none of it. Initially unable to fully close his hands…and thus grip a barbell…he began training at the gym with metal claw hooks until he regained close-to-normal movement with his hands.

The injuries also forced him to adjust the way he gripped a hockey stick. Yet Jordy nearly duplicated his smashing success of the previous season, racking up 33 goals and 83 points in 68 games while serving as the Hurricanes’ captain. An honor richly deserved.

His strong showing, not to mention his grit and determination, earned him a three-game cameo at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Once again assigned to the Baby Pens during the 2019-20 preseason, Bellerive endured a disappointing start to his rookie pro season. He failed to register a point through his first seven games and managed only two goals and four assists through his first 27 games while filling mostly a bottom-six role. But the youngster remained positive.

“Obviously, I’m not producing as much as I did in junior,” he told Seth Rorabaugh of the Tribune-Review. “But I’m trying to play a complete game and not worry about (producing points) so much.

“I think I’m doing the right things. I’m more focused on playing a 200-foot game, trying to be good in every zone on the ice and help out in every way I can.”

That included dropping the gloves with Binghamton’s much larger Michael McLeod and battling him to a standoff.

Bellerive’s season began to turn during a 5-4 shootout loss to Springfield on New Year’s Eve, when he tallied two assists. Following some solid production through the early part of January, he broke loose with a two-goal effort to lead the Baby Pens to a 4-3 victory over San Antonio on January 18, earning the game’s No. 1 star.

After notching another goal (and No. 1 star) three nights later in a return match with San Antonio, he struck for two more goals to help pace a 4-2 triumph over Charlotte on January 25.

That makes five goals in a week’s span and 10 points (including six goals) in a dozen games since New Year’s Eve.

It’s safe to say Bellerive’s hitting his stride. And while I wouldn’t expect to see him in the ‘Burgh any time soon…the Pens are exceptionally deep at center…I wouldn’t bet against this kid, either. Not with his abundance of courage, drive and spirit.

In the meantime, we’re rooting for you, Jordy.