Francis Paré (born June 30, 1987) is a Canadian-Belarusian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

forward and coach. He has played with the National de Québec in the semi-professional

Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey The Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey (LNAH, ''"North American Hockey League"'') is a semi-Professional sports league organization, professional ice hockey league based in the Canadian province of Quebec. Teams in the LNAH compete for the Vertdu ...

(LNAH) since 2024. Paré has served as development coach to the of the (QM18AAA) since 2023, and as an assistant coach to the Italian women's national ice hockey team since 2024.

Playing career

Undrafted, Paré previously played with the

Grand Rapids Griffins The Grand Rapids Griffins are a professional ice hockey team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They compete in the American Hockey League (AHL), playing their home games at Van Andel Arena. They are the AHL affiliate to the Detroit Red Wings of t ...

in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL). On July 27, 2011, Pare signed a two-year, two-way contract extension with the Griffins NHL affiliate, the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

. On July 8, 2013, after helping the Griffins capture the

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League (AHL). It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In it ...

, Paré was signed to a two-year contract abroad in Finland with

TPS TPS or Tps may refer to: In arts and entertainment *Télévision Par Satellite, a French satellite television company *Third-person shooter, a game genre * Torsonic Polarity Syndrome, in ''South Park'' animation * Trailer Park Sex, a band from ...

of the

SM-liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mest ...

. In the following years, Paré played for different teams in the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs. It was considered in ...

(KHL), including

Metallurg Magnitogorsk Metallurg Magnitogorsk () is a professional ice hockey club based in Magnitogorsk, Russia. It is a member of the Kharlamov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The club also competed in the Champions Hockey League (2008–09), Champion ...

Traktor Chelyabinsk Traktor Chelyabinsk, also known as Traktor, or HC Traktor Chelyabinsk, () is a professional ice hockey club based in Chelyabinsk, Russia. It is a member of the Kharlamov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). From 1967 to 2009, the te ...

and

HC Slovan Bratislava Hockey Club Slovan Bratislava () is a professional ice hockey club based in Bratislava, Slovakia. In 2012, it left the Tipsport Liga (hockey), Slovak Extraliga and joined the international Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). In 2019, it returned to ...

. In 2014, he won the

Gagarin Cup The Gagarin Cup () is the trophy presented to the winner of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) playoffs, and is named after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space. The Cup was supposedly named after Gagarin because the last po ...

with Magnitogorsk. After returning to

for a second stint during the 2015–16 season, he again signed a deal with a KHL side, agreeing terms with Medvescak Zagreb in June 2016. On January 23, 2017, Paré left the KHL and signed a contract with Swiss club, Geneve-Servette HC of the

National League A The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss league system. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the league was known as National League A. During the 2018–19 season, the league h ...

(NLA) for the remainder of the season. He appeared in 8 regular season games, with 11 points. As a free agent in the off-season, Paré opted to return to the KHL, agreeing to an initial one-year contract for the 2017–18 season with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg on March 24, 2017. Paré had two seasons in Yekaterinburg before leaving as a free agent to sign a one-year contract with fellow KHL club,

HC Dinamo Minsk Hockey Club Dinamo Minsk or HC Dinamo Minsk (; , ''Dynama-Minsk'') is a professional ice hockey club based in Minsk, Belarus. It is a member of the Tarasov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Dinamo has qualified for the KHL playof ...

, on June 22, 2019. Paré left Minsk after two seasons, securing a one-year contract with reigning champions,

Avangard Omsk Hockey Club Avangard (, Vanguard), also known as Avangard Omsk, is a professional ice hockey club based in Omsk, Russia. It is a member of the Chernyshev Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Franchise history Early years of Omsk hock ...

, on May 10, 2021. in the 2021–22 season, he collected 2 goals and 4 points through 16 appearances with Avangard before he was released from his contract on November 5, 2021. He continued his career abroad by signing an initial try-out contract and later securing a one-year deal with Swiss club, Lausanne HC of the NL, on December 10, 2021.

International play

On January 26, 2021, the Belarus Ice Hockey Federation announced that Paré had accepted an offer to play for the

Belarus men's national ice hockey team The Belarusian men's national ice hockey team (; ) is the national ice hockey team that represents Belarus. The team is controlled by the Belarusian Ice Hockey Association. Belarus was ranked 14th in the world by the IIHF as of the 2021 World R ...

in the

2021 IIHF World Championship The 2021 IIHF World Championship () took place from 21 May to 6 June 2021. It was originally to be co-hosted by Minsk, Belarus and Riga, Latvia, as the IIHF announced on 19 May 2017 in Cologne, Germany. Their joint bid won by a very tight margin ...

. He registered 1 assist through 6 games in a 15th-place finish with Belarus.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pare, Francis 1987 births Living people Canadian people of French descent Ice hockey people from Longueuil Canadian ice hockey centres Avangard Omsk players Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg players Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL) players HC Dinamo Minsk players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen Genève-Servette HC players Grand Rapids Griffins players KHL Medveščak Zagreb players Lausanne HC players Metallurg Magnitogorsk players Shawinigan Cataractes players HC Slovan Bratislava players Traktor Chelyabinsk players HC TPS players Belarusian ice hockey centres Naturalized citizens of Belarus Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland