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| By: Larry Anstett, KW Record - March 13th, 1982 |
Ranger Brian Bellows tops Molson Balloting Here’s a good-news-bad-news case that left Kitchener Rangers’ forward Grant Martin holding a $200 cake and Brian Bellows eating it. The good news for Martin was that he would up tied for the lead with Bellows in both the February-March segment and the overall race in the Molson’s Cup Three-Star competition. The bad news for Martin was that he lost both competitions – and both crisp $100 bills – because Bellows had more first star selections in both cases. “I guess the least I can do is take him out for food or drinks,” Bellows quipped at a press conference Monday. “Either that or I’ll buy him a bottle of Jack Daniel’s – I’ve never seen anybody turn that down.” “It’s to bad they didn’t have two trophies or two moneys,” Rangers coach Joe Crozier said. “It was good to see Brian win the awards, but Grant was deserving, too. He’s the unsung hero on this team. He does an awful lot of things well.” Bellows, who won the overall award for the second straight yea, had a 9-6-4 record in the number of first, second, and third star selections. Martin was 8-7-4. The race boiled down to the final game of the regular schedule in which Bellows was named first star for scoring two goals in a 4-2 win over Niagara Falls and Martin was picked third star. Each star selection was worth five points. In the February-March segment, Bellows had four firsts and a second while Martin had one first, two seconds, and two thirds. Bellows won the first and fifth segments of the Molson Cup while Martin, linemate Jeff Larmer and defenceman Al MacInnis were the November, December and January victors. Despite missing 21 games with a shoulder injury that kept him out of the world junior championships. Bellows amassed more overall Molson’s points than the winners from 10 of the 14 Ontario Hockey League teams. The 17 year old Bellows – still expected by many to be the National Hockey League’s No. 1 draft pick this summer although Portland defenceman Gary Nyland is gaining ground in some circles, he won the Rangers’ scoring championship for the second straight year. That battle also boiled down to the final game in a nip and tuck race between the three members of the line. The official league statistics showed Bellows with 97 points, Martin with 96, and Larmer with 95. Bellows had 45 goals and 52 assists in 47 games, Martin was 33-63 in 54 games, and Larmer was 51-44 in 49 matches. Rangers, who won the Emms Division pennant and finished second overall to Ottawa, open the Emms playoffs against the winner of the Windsor – Niagara Falls quarter final. Windsor won 3-2 at home Monday to even the six-point series 2-2. “There’s no question in my mind – we’re going all the way,” Crozier said. “You only get so many chances at it (the Memorial Cup) and you have to do it when you can.” Rangers and Crozier are both gunning for their second appearance in the national final. Rangers lost to Cornwall Royals in last season’s championship game, while Crozier played for the Brandon Wheat Kings in 1948 when they lost in eight games to the Montreal Royals. Rangers’ president Bob Ertel pointed out it’s been a tremendous season so far. “We had a record number of wins (44) and we’ve had a record attendance. There’s no doubt in my mind we would have finished first overall (Rangers were five points behind Ottawa) if we wouldn’t have had so many key injuries.” Ertel had special praise for Crozier, the all-purpose husband-and-wife team of John and Linda Thompson, Molson’s and the Rangers’ 40 directors. “The directors had total commitment,” Ertel said. “There’s not one of them who didn’t participate in one form or another.”
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