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1993 Stanley Cup flashback: Why Brian Bellows was benched in Game 2

Flashback: As the Canadiens got ready for Game 3 in L.A., coach Jacques Demers explained why he was upset with Brian Bellows's play.

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It has been 25 years since the Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup. Leading up to the anniversary on June 9, we’ll be tracking the Habs’ route to victory with articles from the Montreal Gazette archives. 

June 5, 1993

Original headline: Cup final moves to Los Angeles; Bellows upset with benching; Habs forward asks ‘Did I really play that bad?’

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Brian Bellows says he doesn’t want to talk about it.

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Canadiens coach Jacques Demers says he must — with Bellows — and long before tonight’s Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final with the Los Angeles Kings.

What both are talking about is the fact that Bellows, who’s been a standout during the regular season and through most of the playoffs, was used only sparingly during the first period of Thursday’s 3-2 overtime victory over the Kings. He was part of Team Benched throughout the second period, which led to a few sparks between the two.

“I don’t really want to talk about it,” Bellows said yesterday. Then he talked about it.

“How do I feel about it?” he asked. “Maybe you should ask him (Demers) how he feels about it. I didn’t play much in the first period. We had a lot of penalties to kill. Did I really play that bad, though?

“I didn’t think so,” Bellows said. “Obviously, he did. I don’t make the decisions about who plays and who doesn’t.

“Anyway, whatever went on is between me and him,” Bellows added. “Am I bitter? Am I angry? I don’t really know how I feel about it.”

So, how does the kindly ol’ coach feel about it?

“The first thing I want you to know,” Demers said, “is that I haven’t had any kind of a problem with Bellows all season. If you talk with the players on this team, I think – I’m sure they’d tell you that I’m a very patient guy and a pretty good guy.

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“What Brian has to realize — and I’m sure he does — is that hey, this is the Stanley Cup final. All I want now is a complete effort from the players. It’s what I need. It’s what we all need.

“When I see a Mike Keane, who’s got back spasms, coming back for the second game and giving it everything he’s got, hey — I’ve got a lot of respect for that kid. I know Brian has played hurt, but we’ve got to get on with it.

“I’ve got to get a complete effort from everybody, and I wasn’t getting it from Bellows,” Demers added. “I sat him down. It wasn’t anything more than that. We’ll talk about it before the next game. I promise.”

Demers’s displeasure with Bellows was caught by the television cameras. The image flashed from coast to coast showed an exercised Demers giving his player the thumb — jerked in the direction of the nearest exit.

Why was Jumpin’ Jacques so upset?

At one point in his enforced absence in the second period, Bellows turned to Demers and said: “I’m ready to play.”

He was greeted with a discreet silence.

“I’m ready to play,” Bellows repeated.

Enter the Demers thumb.

Exit Bellows’s chances of getting on the ice at any point during the second period.

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“I don’t feel good about this,” Bellows said, “but whatever happened has nothing to do with what I feel for my teammates. After the second period, I went into the gym, worked on the bike, and came out ready to play in the third period. I played and I was as happy as anybody else that we’d won.

“Is all this behind me now?” he asked. “I don’t really know. We’ll have to see what happens.”

Said Demers: “I don’t blame Bellows for being unhappy with what happened. I’m not happy with what happened, either. I certainly wasn’t telling him he was out of the game because he played in the third period.

“It’s something we’ve got to talk about, though,” Demers added. “He’s a very good player. He’s got pride. His family is watching and he’s on the bench because I put him there. That’s not much fun.

“He may have had problems with other coaches, but I haven’t had a problem with him all season, and he doesn’t want one now.

“Is he still bothered by his rib injury? I don’t know,” Demers continued. “What I do know is that in a perfect world, we’re only 180 minutes away from the Stanley Cup. I want the best from everybody.”

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Bellows, of course, is in the lineup tonight. So is the remainder of the team which pulled a rabbit out of a Canadiens cap to tie the Stanley Cup final at 1-1.

The Canadiens stuck it to the Kings by calling for a measurement of Marty McSorley’s stick. The Canadiens were right — and McSorley’s stick wrong — so with the Kings defenceman in the penalty box and Patrick Roy yanked from the net in favor of a sixth attacker, Eric Desjardins’s second goal of the game with 1:13 remaining sent the teams into overtime tied 2-2.

Desjardins’s third of the night, 51 seconds into the overtime, sent the Canadiens home happy. It’s why Demers will come back with the same team tonight.

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