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.

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. 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 Gabriel Landeskog and Sidney Crosby. However, because he was an interim captain, Landeskog is still considered the youngest captain in history.

On August 31, 1992, Bellows was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Russ Courtnall. The trade angered Bellows at first, but he relished the chance to play for 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 but I'm excited about the new change. My idol was Ken Dryden. It's every kid's dream to play for the Canadiens." 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 NHL 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 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. He was named the top forward at the 1989 World Ice Hockey Championships, as Canada won the silver medal.

Personal

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

Bellows' son Kieffer Bellows plays hockey for the U.S. National Development Team.

Awards

• Member of one Stanley Cup winning team: 1993 with the Montreal Canadiens
• Selected to three NHL All-Star Games: 1984, 1988 and 1992
• Selected to the 1990 NHL Second All-Star Team

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		31	15	17	32	18		—	—	—	—	—
1998-99	Washington Capitals	NHL		76	17	19	36	26		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				1188	485	537	1022	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

[ Source: Wikipedia ]