Brian Bellows
Bellows in 2008
Born (1964-09-01) September 1, 1964 (age 59)
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position Winger
Shot Right
Played for Minnesota North Stars
Montreal Canadiens
Tampa Bay Lightning
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Washington Capitals
Berlin Capitals
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 2nd overall, 1982
Minnesota North Stars
Playing career 1982–1999

Brian Edward Bellows (born September 1, 1964) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played nearly 1,200 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Minnesota North Stars, Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Washington Capitals. He was a member of the 1993 Stanley Cup-winning Montreal Canadiens.

Playing career

Bellows played junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League with the Kitchener Rangers. During this time, he was featured in Sports Illustrated, which described him as the hottest prospect since Wayne Gretzky.[1] In his two seasons with Kitchener, he captained the team to two consecutive Ontario Hockey League championships and two Memorial Cup finals, winning the trophy on their second attempt, 7-4 vs the Sherbrooke Beavers.

Bellows was drafted second overall by the Minnesota North Stars, who had acquired the draft pick in a trade with Detroit with the purpose of having a shot at Bellows. North Stars GM Lou Nanne sent Don Murdoch, Greg Smith, and a first round pick (Murray Craven) to the Wings in exchange for what later turned out to be the second overall draft pick. Bellows was often compared to Gretzky, which led to a tough rookie season. The pressure of such comparisons caused criticisms when he did not live up to them.[citation needed] Bellows improved greatly in the second half of the season and finished with 35 goals. In the playoffs that year, Bellows scored 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists) in 9 games.

Bellows played 10 seasons with the North Stars and was popular in Minnesota for his charity work, as well as his goal-scoring. He had a North Star record 342 goals in 753 games, peaking with 55 goals in 1989–90. In 1990–91, Bellows scored 29 points in the post-season to become the North Stars career playoff point leader, and took the North Stars to the Stanley Cup finals where they fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

When team captain Craig Hartsburg was injured partway through the 1983–84 season, Bellows was named interim captain for the remainder of the season. At 19 years and 4 months, Bellows became captain at an earlier age than Connor McDavid, Gabriel Landeskog and Sidney Crosby. However, because Bellows was an interim captain, McDavid is still considered the youngest captain in history.[2][3]

On August 31, 1992, Bellows was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Russ Courtnall.[4] The trade angered Bellows at first, but he relished the chance to play for the Canadiens.[citation needed] In the 1992-93 NHL season his 88 points were the second highest season total of his career, and his 15 playoff points helped the Canadiens win the Stanley Cup in 1993.

As his career was winding down, Bellows played for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Washington Capitals. In the 1997–98 season the Capitals made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, but lost to the Detroit Red Wings. En route to the Eastern Conference championship, Bellows scored the series-clinching overtime goal in the first round in Game 6 against the Boston Bruins. The 1998–99 season was his last. On January 2, 1999, Bellows scored his 1,000th career regular season point, becoming the 54th NHL player to reach that plateau.

Bellows was named to the 1990 second All-Star team, and played in three NHL All-Star Games (1984, 1988 and 1992). He retired with 485 goals, 537 assists and 1,022 points. He was named the top forward at the 1989 World Ice Hockey Championships, as Canada won the silver medal.

Personal life

Bellows lives in Edina, Minnesota, and works in Minneapolis as a broker at investment bank Piper Jaffray.[5]

Bellows's son Kieffer Bellows in 2016 was drafted in the first round, 19th overall, by the New York Islanders.[6]

Awards

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1979–80 St. Catharines Falcons GHJHL 44 50 80 130 26 — — — — —
1980–81 Kitchener Rangers OMJHL 66 49 67 116 23 16 14 13 27 13
1980–81 Kitchener Rangers M-Cup — — — — — 5 6 0 6 4
1981–82 Kitchener Rangers OHL 47 45 52 97 23 15 16 13 29 11
1981–82 Kitchener Rangers M-Cup — — — — — 5 6 6 12 4
1982–83 Minnesota North Stars NHL 78 35 30 65 27 9 5 4 9 18
1983–84 Minnesota North Stars NHL 78 41 42 83 66 16 2 12 14 6
1984–85 Minnesota North Stars NHL 78 26 36 62 72 9 2 4 6 9
1985–86 Minnesota North Stars NHL 77 31 48 79 46 5 5 0 5 16
1986–87 Minnesota North Stars NHL 65 26 27 53 34 — — — — —
1987–88 Minnesota North Stars NHL 77 40 41 81 81 — — — — —
1988–89 Minnesota North Stars NHL 60 23 27 50 55 5 2 3 5 8
1989–90 Minnesota North Stars NHL 80 55 44 99 72 7 4 3 7 10
1990–91 Minnesota North Stars NHL 80 35 40 75 43 23 10 19 29 30
1991–92 Minnesota North Stars NHL 80 30 45 75 41 7 4 4 8 14
1992–93 Montreal Canadiens NHL 82 40 48 88 44 18 6 9 15 18
1993–94 Montreal Canadiens NHL 77 33 38 71 36 6 1 2 3 2
1994–95 Montreal Canadiens NHL 41 8 8 16 8 — — — — —
1995–96 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 79 23 26 49 39 6 2 0 2 4
1996–97 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 7 1 2 3 0 — — — — —
1996–97 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 62 15 13 28 22 11 2 4 6 2
1997–98 Washington Capitals NHL 11 6 3 9 6 21 6 7 13 6
1997–98 Berlin Capitals DEL 29 19 17 36 18 4 0 2 2 0
1998–99 Washington Capitals NHL 76 17 19 36 26 — — — — —
NHL totals 1,188 485 537 1,022 718 143 51 71 122 143

International

Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM
1984 Canada CC 5 0 1 1 0
1987 Canada WC 10 1 3 4 8
1989 Canada WC 10 8 6 14 2
1990 Canada WC 8 3 6 9 8
Senior totals 33 12 16 28 18

See also

References

  1. ^ "The Hunt Is On". Sports Illustrated. October 12, 1981. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  2. ^ Sadowski, Rick (September 4, 2012). "Colorado Avalanche make Gabriel Landeskog youngest-ever NHL captain". NHL.com. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  3. ^ McKeon, Ross (December 10, 2007). "Mailbag:More Crosby". Yahoo! Sports Canada. Retrieved April 29, 2008.
  4. ^ "North Stars Trade Bellows to Canadiens". Los Angeles Times. September 1, 1992. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  5. ^ "Where are they now? Brian Bellows". Historical Website of the Montreal Canadiens. Archived from the original on January 27, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  6. ^ Compton, Brian (June 30, 2016). "Bellows excited to follow in father's footsteps". NHL.com. Retrieved July 17, 2018.

External links

Preceded byRon Meighan Minnesota North Stars first round draft pick 1982 Succeeded byBrian Lawton Preceded byCraig Hartsburg Minnesota North Stars captain 1984 Succeeded byCraig Hartsburg
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