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On August 31, the Minnesota North Stars gave up a player and gained another in 1992 and had a former player retire in 1999. In the earlier part of the decade, Minnesota traded scorer Brian Bellows to the Montreal Canadiens in return for the more-consistent Russ Courtnall. At the end of the decade, Dino Ciccarelli (who had started off with Minnesota) wrapped up his 19-season NHL career.

The 1992 trade was essentially completed on Saturday, August 29 but announced (to the players and the press) that Monday, before the Canadiens’ golf tournament at Elm Ridge. The two players swapping teams had their perceived weaknesses highlighted by their former general managers and their skills praised by their new management.

Bellows

Bellows had been drafted 2nd overall in 1982 and began skating with the North Stars within three months. In his ten seasons, he had scored 30 or more goals in seven of them. He set a franchise record for goals (342) and came in ranked second in assists (380) and points (722). Going into the option year of his three-year contract, with a salary of $750,000, he was almost traded to the New Jersey Devils. Instead, the day before his 28th birthday, the North Stars sent him to Montreal.

Minnesota’s new GM, Bob Gainey, never seemed to get on with Bellows, and the two even shouted at each other during the season. Gainey went on a bit of a tear about his reasons for punting Bellows. “It was a question of us trying to find a player with something different, something we didn’t have in Brian, that would help us be a better team. We’re trying to create a different outlook for our team and move ahead in the Norris Division. Brian is a skilled player, an individual player, a good offensive player; no one can argue against his ability to score. But the record over the period Brian was here wasn’t very good, and he has to be held accountable. He was a first draft pick, he was perceived as the best player on the team, and the record doesn’t reflect well on him. … It’s time to take the risk and find another player who can help us improve our position.” Gainey continued, “There’s no doubt that he can put points up on the board, but he hasn’t been as consistent as you like him to be. There are times when he’s as good as any player on the ice and his playoff record indicates that he has picked some good times to play well. But our biggest problem here is that we don’t have a good record in the regular season.”

The news reached Bellows while he was playing in a golf tournament. He responded, “I had planned to talk to Bob Gainey next week about my future with the North Stars. I did get a call last week from (Montreal general manager) Serge Savard, asking me if I’d be interested in playing with the Canadiens. I told him I’d consider it if everything could be worked out from a contract standpoint. I had sent a wire to all the Canadian clubs telling them I would not play hockey in Canada, but the Canadiens are something special.” Bellows began making plans. “Though I preferred to stay in Minnesota, I still will make my offseason home there and continue to go to college at St. Thomas. I love the area. I’m not bitter. I had 10 good years in Minnesota, and now I’ve got a new challenge.”

The Canadiens seemed quite pleased to welcome Bellows. Savard merely commented, “We had hoped to improve our offence and the two players we got in the past few days (Bellows and Vincent Damphousse) are players we expect to produce in our system.” Coach Jacques Demers had a lot more excitement to share, exclaiming, “We were looking to add 80 goals to our offence in the off-season and we may have got 100.” He clearly thought they had the better end of the deal. “Bellows is a better hockey player than (Russ) Courtnall. He’s a physical player, not in the sense that Shayne (Corson) is a physical player, but he can take care of himself,” he explained. “Nothing against Russ Courtnall, but Brian has the reputation of coming to play every night, a guy who gives a maximum effort. This coach is a happy man.” Demers also made something of a promise as to encouraging Bellows. “I’ve heard that he needs a tap on the shoulder. But we’re going to make him feel important, just like he was when he was a top pick in the draft.”

The trade had an immediate effect. Bellows scored 88 points his first season with the Canadiens, and they went on to win the Stanley Cup.

Courtnall

Meanwhile, Montreal had traded Courtnall to Minnesota in return. He had been drafted 7th overall in 1983, being just nine months younger than Bellows. After four years with the Toronto Maple Leafs, they traded him to Montreal on November 7, 1988. That first season in Montreal, he was under the captainship of Gainey, who retired as a player at the end of the season. Courtnall was about halfway through his four-year contract of $830,000 per season.

Courtnall really did himself in with the Canadiens. In June, he went to the press demanding a trade to the Los Angeles Kings so that he could live in his new Hollywood home with his wife, actress Paris Vaughan. He even threatened to retire if the Canadiens did not make the trade, and he began working out with Kings players. Savard apparently told Courtnall’s agent that he “tried to trade [him] to Los Angeles, but there was no room there.” Savard felt that Courtnall cared more for his wife’s career than his own. “Looking at our club, if Russ had been 100 percent dedicated to hockey, we wouldn’t have had to make this deal.” He continued, “You can’t let a player dictate to you. We took the best deal we could get.” If not for this trade, Canadiens captain Guy Carbonneau intended to make Courtnall apologize to the team for what he had been saying. At learning of the trade, Courtnall said, “I’ve been dealt a hand, and now I’ve got to go out and play it and be as positive about it as I can.”

Having captained Courtnall, Gainey overlooked the player’s issues from Montreal. “His chief asset is his speed and his skating. I wasn’t concerned when the injuries weren’t related to his lower body; they can be washed away because this wasn’t his year. He doesn’t come with a clean slate. He had some other personal problems in Montreal and wanted to leave there. And there was some risk on our side as to whether he would accept (the deal) and look forward to coming to Minnesota. I spoke with him today. He told me he is excited about coming here and is ready to look for a place to live.” Most of all, Gainey praised, “Courtnall learned in Montreal what it means to play within a team and compete every night. He’s a consistent player, and he fits in well with the rule changes on coincidental penalties.”

Though he was “surprised, even shocked,” Courtnall commented, “Now I’m looking forward to Minnesota. It’s a whole new game in Minnesota. Bob (Gainey) told me you really have to concentrate to maintain a high level of hockey interest, and where the big change is for me is that I’ve played in the two major hockey cities in Canada, and now I’m finally playing for a team in the United States.”

As it turned out, Courtnall only played that initial season in Minnesota before the franchise moved south to become the Dallas Stars. During those two seasons with the franchise, he earned career highs in points (79 then 80). The Stars, in April 1995, traded Courtnall to the Vancouver Canucks, who traded him to the New York Rangers in March 1997. Finally, on November 7, 1997, Courtnall was able to sign with the Los Angeles Kings as he had wanted. He finished the last two seasons of his career there. Meanwhile, Gainey’s Dallas Stars won the Stanley Cup in 1999. 

Ciccarelli

A couple of months after that 1999 Stanley Cup Final, Dino Ciccarelli announced his retirement. He had begun his NHL career with the Minnesota North Stars back in 1980-81, when the team went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. With his 21 points in 19 games, Ciccarelli set a playoff rookie record that still stands. Minnesota traded him to the Washington Capitals in March 1989, and he played there for about 3.5 seasons. A couple months before the Bellows-Courtnall trade, in June 1992, Washington traded Ciccarelli to the Detroit Red Wings, where he spent four seasons. After being traded in August 1996, he spent parts of two seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning and parts of the next two with the Florida Panthers. He scored his 600th goal on February 3, 1998, joining a club of only ten players to reach the milestone by 1999.

The Panthers bought out the final year of Ciccarelli’s contract after he had only been uninjured for 14 games that final season. All of the injuries stemmed from back issues, like a hairline fracture in his back. He told the Sarnia (Ontario) Observer, “I tried skating a bit last week and the same soreness and stiffness was there. There’s no use kidding myself anymore.” He commented to another newspaper, “I’d love to be able to play, but because of the injury, it’s not strong enough. It’s the same nagging thing that had me laid up in bed unable to move last season.” From his home in Yale, Michigan he reflected, “I’ve always heard people say you will know when it’s time to call it quits. I know for sure it’s time for me to go.” Ciccarelli made the official announcement through the NHL Players’ Association by stating, “It is with regret that I have to retire from the game I love. I have been fortunate to have a long career in the NHL and I will always appreciate the experience of playing in the NHL.”

As his final GM, Bryan Murray paid tribute to Ciccarelli. “He brought such emotion to the game, and fire. When I try to motivate a young player to be more competitive, I often have said, ‘Just look at Dino. Show up and play hard like him.’ Courageous players score goals, and he’s one of the most courageous players I’ve ever seen.” Ciccarelli remained more humble. “I had a knack for scoring goals and going to the net, but I wasn’t an overly skilled player. I didn’t have a great shot, and I wasn’t a great skater by any means. You know, I wasn’t even a great stick-handler. What it was, I think, was I used to try to just go out there, work hard, play for my teammates and play a feisty game.” Still, he retired eighth in career hat tricks (19), ninth in goals (608), and  28th in points (1200). Among the North Stars franchise, at the time, he still ranked fourth among all-time scorers (with 651 points).

Ciccarelli said his future might include color commentary or scouting but definitely becoming more involved with the Ontario League’s Sarnia Sting that he owned with his brothers, Rob and Larry. “I loved this game as a kid. I loved it as a pro. I’ll continue to love it when I’m retired.” After such a career, Ciccarelli was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2010.

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