Brian Bellows

Encyclopedia : B : BR : BRI : Brian Bellows

Brian Bellows (born September 1, 1964 in St. Catharines, Ontario) is a retired professional ice hockey player.

Bellows, right, with Ed Ronan and the Stanley Cup

Drafted second overall by the Minnesota North Stars, Bellows was often compared to Wayne Gretzky, which led to a tough rookie season. The pressure of such comparisons caused criticisms when he didn't live up to them. Bellows would improve 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.

On August 31, 1992 Bellows was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Russ Courtnall. The trade angered Bellows, but he relished 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.

As his career was winding down, Bellows bounced around, playing for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Anaheim Mighty Ducks and finally, the Washington Capitals. In the 1997-98 NHL season the Capitals would make it to the Stanley Cup finals, but lose to the Detroit Red Wings. Bellows' final season would be the 1998-99 season. On January 2, 1999, Bellows scored his 1000th 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.

|- style="text-align: center;"

Career Statistics

Regular Season

Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM

1982-83 Minnesota North Stars NHL 78 35 30 65 27 1983-84 Minnesota North Stars NHL 78 41 42 83 66 1984-85 Minnesota North Stars NHL 78 26 36 62 72 1985-86 Minnesota North Stars NHL 77 31 48 79 46 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 1989-90 Minnesota North Stars NHL 80 55 44 99 72 1990-91 Minnesota North Stars NHL 80 35 40 75 43 1991-92 Minnesota North Stars NHL 80 30 45 75 41 1992-93 Montreal Canadiens NHL 82 40 48 88 44 1993-94 Montreal Canadiens NHL 77 33 38 71 36 1995 Montreal Canadiens NHL 41 8 8 16 8 1995-96 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 79 23 26 49 39 1996-97 Tampa Bay/Anaheim NHL 69 16 15 31 22 1997-98 Washington Capitals NHL 11 6 3 9 6 1998-99 Washington Capitals NHL 76 17 19 36 26

NHL Totals         1188 485 537  1022 718

Brian Bellows

Career Statistics

See also