After a solid career with the Minnesota North Stars and Montreal Canadiens, Bellows had a few unremarkable stops before retiring in 1999. He retired with 1,022 points (485 goals, 537 assists) in 1,188 games as well as another 122 points in 143 playoff games including a Stanley Cup victory with Montreal in 1993.
Although remembered as a goal-scorer (he had 55 goals in 1989-90), Bellows had a great all-around game. However, he never received the recognition which many other players would have received for being the 72nd highest scorer in NHL history. Although popular during his career, he often played 2nd fiddle to others on his team.
From 1995-96 Upper Deck Be A Player comes this hard-signed autograph of Brian Bellows during his short time with the Tampa Bay Lightning. In addition, from 1998-99 In The Game Be A Player comes this hard-signed gold parallel auto of Bellows with the Washington Capitals. Although these fit nicely into my collection of the seventy-nine 1,000+ point scorers in NHL history, it would have been nice to have a copy with him in his North Stars or Habs jersey.
As an interesting note, part-way through the 1983–84 season, Bellows was named interim captain (due to a Craig Hartsburg injury) for the remainder of the season. At 19 years and 4 months, Bellows became the youngest captain in NHL history. However, because he was an interim captain, Sidney Crosby is still considered the youngest captain in history.
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