Roussel, 31, and Bellemare, 37, are two of the three Frenchmen currently playing in the NHL, the North American Ice Hockey League, considered the best championship in the world.
Roussel, who played this 2021-22 season in the jersey of Arizona, is not taking part in the NHL play-offs, currently in progress, but "he did not want to come this year": "He was acted before we started the preparation that he would not be available", explained during a press briefing Philippe Bozon, the coach of the Blues.
Bellemare, he is still in contention with Tampa Bay, the double defending champion, but "he will not join the France team" during the World Cup if the Lightning were to be eliminated from the play-offs, indicated the coach of the Blues .
The 3rd Frenchman of NHL, Alexandre Texier (Columbus), was retained, but returns from a long period of unavailability following an injury.
France remains on a big disappointment, its non-qualification for the Beijing Olympics-2022 last winter.
The French had only taken second place in the Olympic Qualification Tournament (TQO) after their narrow defeat (2-1) against Latvia in the decisive match.
"We will not have the team we had at the TQO with Roussel, Bellemare and (Stéphane) Da Costa (the striker of the Russian club Yekaterinburg forfeited through injury, editor's note)", recognizes Philippe Bozon.
"But our goal is to stay in the Elite," he insisted.
Following the exclusion of Russia and Belarus from all competitions organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), after the invasion of Ukraine, France was drafted into the Elite that she had left in 2019, just like Austria.
In the group stage, the Blues, 13th in the world rankings, will face Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Switzerland and Canada from Friday.
Antoine Roussel of France with the Arizona Coyotes during an NHL game in Glendale on December 15, 2021 Christian Petersen/Getty Images/AFP GLENDALE, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 15: Antoine Roussel #26 of the Arizona Coyotes attempts to control the puck ahead of K'Andre Miller #79 of the New York Rangers during the second period of the NHL game at Gila River Arena on December 15, 2021 in Glendale, Arizona.
Christian Petersen/Getty Images/AFP Christian Petersen GEetty/AFP/Archives
The last two teams in the classification of this World-2022 will be relegated to the IA division, the 2nd world division.
The list of French people selected for the Mondial-2022
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Goalkeepers: Henri-Corentin Buysse (Amiens), Quentin Papillon (Grüner / NOR), Sébastian Ylönen (Cergy-Pontoise)
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Defenders: Yohann Auvitu (Helsinki/FIN), Romain Bault (Amiens), Florian Chakiachvili (Rouen), Pierre Crinon (Grenoble), Hugo Gallet (KalPa/FIN), Enzo Guebey (Zurich/SUI), Vincent Llorca (Angers), Thomas Thiry (Bern/SUI)
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Forwards: Charles Bertrand (Tampere/FIN), Louis Boudon (Lake Superior State/USA), Kévin Bozon (Winterthur/SUI), Tim Bozon (Lausanne/SUI), Valentin Claireaux (Kloten/SUI), Fabien Colotti (Gap), Dylan Fabre (Grenoble), Damien Fleury (Grenoble), Guillaume Leclerc (Ljubljana/SLO), Jordann Perret (Mountfield/CZE), Anthony Rech (Wolfsburg/GER), Nicolas Ritz (Angers), Alexandre Texier (Columbus/NHL), Sacha Treille (Grenoble)
© 2022 AFP