Kieffer Bellows got off the phone with John Tavares, and the message relayed from the Islanders captain to the franchise’s newest addition was clear.
“He told me to enjoy the moment and enjoy the day with my family,” Bellows said in Buffalo after the Islanders took him with the No. 19 pick in the first round of the NHL draft Friday night. “And then, be ready.”
What that entails could be relayed from Bellows’ father, Brian, who played 1,188 games in the NHL, most of them with the Minnesota North Stars. Brian Bellows was once famously the object of trash talk from Islanders legend Bryan Trottier, during the 1991 Stanley Cup finals, when Trottier was with the Penguins.