According to what has been learned, half of the QMJHL teams were on the hunt for this forward who played until very recently with the Powell River Kings in the Colombia Hockey League. -British (LHCB). It would be the Rimouski Océanic, host of the Memorial Cup tournament, who was able to get their hands on the talented 18-year-old center.
Belzil flew to Quebec on Sunday and will then join his new organization quickly. As the CHLB is an independent team from Hockey Canada, Belzil must be reinstated into the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), but this procedure is a formality of sorts.
Belzil’s move comes in the wake of the NCAA’s eligibility rule change for former CHL players. Now that they are admitted to American colleges, many players, like Belzil, have chosen to abandon their team in the LHCB in order to transit to the CHL in recent days.
A product of the Green and Gold of St. Joseph Seminary, where he studied until 2022, Belzil quickly made the decision to head to American colleges. Never drafted in the QMJHL, he lined up for Bishop’s College for one season before heading to the CHLB starting in the fall of 2023 for his 17-year-old campaign. He had 17 points in 44 games in his rookie year with the River Kings.
Belzil, however, took it to another level offensively this year as he produced 17 points in as many games at the time of his departure.
Having committed to the University of Massachusetts in the summer of 2023, Belzil is expected to make the jump to the NCAA starting with the 2026-2027 season. He could thus play at least this season and the next in the QMJHL.
Canada
