Friday is certainly an opportunity for French people from all over the world to celebrate their national day, but also their history, their achievements and the people they worthy represent on the international stage.

In the sporting world there are numerous athletes from the tricolor nation who have achieved success without forgetting others who have had a brilliant career but have not received the recognition they deserve. This is all the more true in North America, several hundred kilometers away from the old continent. Many French people work in disciplines that are not considered a traditional strength of the country.

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Hockey is the perfect example. The National League (NHL) has welcomed a handful of players from France to its ranks since its inception, most of them in the last 40 years. This July 14th, here’s a little tribute to the French-born skaters who excelled the most at Bettman Circuit.

– Cristóbal Huet

Before retiring in Switzerland, Cristobal Huet enjoyed the cheers of the audience at the Bell Center for a number of seasons. Acquired by the Los Angeles Kings in a trade deal with Radek Bonk in late June 2004, the goalie has defended the Canadiens net in 117 regular-season games and has 58 wins. He also had 11 of his 24 shutouts in Montreal. Also note his save percentage of .913 and his goals-against-average of 2.46. In the spring of 2010, the also Swiss citizen became the first Frenchman to win the Stanley Cup when the Chicago Blackhawks were crowned. It was his departure from the NHL as he continued his journey on Swiss soil the following fall.

The name Huet makes it possible to evoke the place where he was born: the commune of Saint-Martin-d’Hères.

-Antoine Roussel

Photo credit: AFP

The Roubaix winger leads his country’s NHL players with 197 career points. Above all, however, he drew attention to himself with his warlike attitude on the ice. His “big mouth” Antoine Roussel spent a total of more than 1000 minutes in prison including 2019 with the Dallas Stars in 2013-2014. He has also surpassed the hundred mark in six campaigns in a row. After completing his junior internship in Quebec with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens, the forward played 607 NHL games this season and 36 more in the playoffs. He remained inactive for the 2022-23 season after being released from training camp with the Philadelphia Flyers.

-Pierre-Edouard Bellemare

Photo credit: Joël Lemay / QMI Agency

The 38-year-old supervisor continues to impress his employers with his reliability on the ice. In particular, he draws on extensive playoff experience. Participating in 85 postseason duels, Pierre-Édouard Bellemare twice landed in the Stanley Cup finals: in 2018 with the Vegas Golden Knights and four years later with the Tampa Lightning Bay. With the French, he is in second place in history with 131 points. His 660 games is nothing to scoff at for a hockey player who wasn’t drafted into the NHL. A native of Le Blanc-Mesnil, he will evolve under the Seattle Kraken colors between 2023 and 2024.

-Philippe Bozon

For a long time, Philippe Bozon was the only answer to trivia questions about the French in the NHL, they were so rare. The Chamonix skater was something of a trailblazer for his compatriots, who wanted a long career and didn’t want to experience history for just an evening or two. The former Saint-Jean Castors player of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League secured his place with the St. Louis Blues for a time, although he didn’t hear his name at the amateur auction. A true left winger, he wore the Missouri organization jersey 144 times in the first half of the 1990s. about Brett Hull.

-Alexandre Texier

Photo credit: AFP

Can the 23-year-old striker, who hails from the same town as Huet, top Roussel’s points list? At 23, his chances of success are good, provided he finally gets over his personal problems. In fact, last season the 2017 Blue Jackets second-round pick preferred to leave the Columbus area to work out his problems, but that didn’t stop him from playing his sport; Alexandre Texier has been keeping in shape with the Zurich Lions in the Swiss league. The Pivot and certainly the jackets are keeping their fingers crossed that the production level will be reached again in 2021-2022. He had 20 points, including 11 goals, in 36 games in Ohio that year.

-Honourable Mentions: Xavier Ouellet (born in Bayonne), Stéphane Da Costa, Paulin and Sébastien Bordeleau (born in Canada but with French nationality)