Flyers' Bellemare once lived near site of Paris attack

The news shook Flyers center Pierre-Eduoard Bellemare to the core.

Twelve people were killed Wednesday when masked gunmen attacked the Paris offices of a satirical news magazine that has published cartoons of the Muslim prophet Muhammad.

"I woke up this morning to hear the news, and it seemed too crazy to be real," Bellemare, who was raised in Paris, said after the Flyers practiced in Voorhees on Wednesday. "I'm kind of eager to go home and see what's going on. It's all around the news, and what has happened is terrifying."

Bellemare, who earlier this season became the ninth French-born player to reach the NHL, said none of his friends or relatives were killed or injured. He has a younger sister who lives in Paris, far from where the shootings took place.

"Thank God," he said. "I think of the people who died, and it's almost too crazy to think it's real. I mean, having lived in Paris, you never think something like that can happen to a town like us, but surely it did."

Bellemare said he used to live "in the neighborhood" in which chaos reigned Wednesday morning.

On Tuesday, Bellemare led the way as the Flyers' penalty-killing unit went 4 for 4, contributing to the team's 2-1 shootout win over visiting Ottawa.

If the Flyers are going to make a playoff run, their penalty kill needs to show vast improvement from the season's first half. They have killed just 75 percent of their penalties, which is tied for 28th in the 30-team NHL.

"Obviously we're not happy with the play of the PK [this season]," said Bellemare, 29, who is in his first NHL season. Because of "a combination of a lot of stuff, we haven't played well enough. On Tuesday "we finally got all the components together and we made stuff happen and helped the team."

"They were more aggressive,' coach Craig Berube said.

Bellemare, Sean Couturier, Chris VandeVelde, and Matt Read were the forwards who did the bulk of the penalty-killing work Tuesday, while Nick Schultz and Braydon Coburn anchored the defense.

"It can be a big momentum-changer when you kill a penalty," Bellemare said. "We all know how important it is to changing a game."