BrianBellows

Brian Bellows

Brian Bellows born September 1, 1964 in St. Catharines, Ontario is a retired

professional ice hockey player. Bellows was drafted second overall by the

Minnesota North Stars in 1982. Bellows was often "compared to Wayne

Gretzky", which led to a tough rookie season, this pressure to succeed

caused criticisms when he did not live up to them. Bellows improved greatly

in the second half of his rookie season and he finished with 35 goals. In the

playoffs that year, Bellows scored 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists) in 9 games. In

his second year, Bellows was named the North Stars' captain, becoming one

of the youngest players in league history to assume leadership duties.

Bellows played 10 seasons with the North Stars and was admired in

Minnesota for his charity work in many causes, ranging from Special Olympics and drug prevention, 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. On August 31, 1992 Bellows was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Russ Courtnall. The trade angered Bellows, when he joined the Canadiens, Bellows remarked, "I hope to score more than last year. I want to come in and prove I can still play to the levels expected. I was shocked about the trade but I'm excited about the new change and the chance to play for the Canadiens. 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, Anaheim Mighty Ducks and the Washington Capitals. In the 1997-98 NHL season the Capitals made it to the Stanley Cup finals, but lost to the Detroit Red Wings. The 1998-1999 season was his last. On January 2, 1999, Bellows scored his 1000th career regular season point, becoming the 54th NHL player to reach that plateau.

Memorial Cup Tournament All-Star Team (1981)

OHL First All-Star Team (1982)

George Parsons Trophy (Memorial Cup Tournament Most Sportsmanlike Player) (1982)

Named Best Forward at WEC-A (1989)

NHL Second All-Star Team (1990)

NHL All-Star (1984, 1988, 1992)

Regular Season Playoffs

Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM

1980-81 Kitchener Rangers OHL 66 49 67 116 23

1981-82 Kitchener Rangers OHL 47 45 52 97 23 15 16 13 29 11

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 Anaheim Mighty Ducks NHL 62 15 13 28 22 11 2 4 6 2

1997-98 Berlin Capitals DEL 31 15 17 32 18

1997-98 Washington Capitals NHL 11 6 3 9 6 21 6 7 13 6

1998-99 Washington Capitals NHL 76 17 19 36 26

NHL Totals 1188 485 537 1022 718 143 51 71 122 143