Seattle Duo: Teammates Twice, Cup Final Adversaries Twice
Andre Burakovsky and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare took a most curious intersecting route to becoming Seattle Kraken teammates.
Two events reminded us of this; first, they both earned points in the same game Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Second, Thursday's opponent at Climate Pledge Arena, the Washington Capitals.
We actually planned to share this story when the season started, but lengthy injury absences for both meant Burakovsky and Bellemare have almost never been in the lineup together all season.
Seattle's Andre Burakovsky (95) scores against Vegas Tuesday at CPA.How the Capitals figure into the story is that back in 2018, Burakovsky's Washington team faced Bellemare's Vegas squad in the Stanley Cup Final.
Amazingly, that would be one of two times the pair found themselves on opposite sides of a Final. In 2022, "Burra's" Colorado Avalanche faced off against "Belly's" Tampa Bay Lightning. Burakovsky's team captured the Cup both times.
Seattle's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, a Burakovsky teammate for the second time.Before moving on to Tampa, Bellemare was a teammate of Burakovsky's in Colorado. Andre signed a free agent contract with the Kraken in 2022, and this past offseason, Pierre-Edouard did the same. For the second time, the long and winding hockey road had led them to the same place.
Both players speak about their latest reunion in today's Kraken Reaction video.