Defenceman Neil Belland's strength was head-manning the puck and pinching in from the point to score goals. He played parts of six seasons with the Vancouver Canucks and Pittsburgh Penguins but put up his most impressive numbers in junior and overseas.
Belland spent a year of junior with the North Bay Trappers in 1977-78 before moving on to the Kingston Canadians. He was signed as a free agent by the Vancouver Canucks in October 1980 then went on to score 28 goals in the OHA.
Belland spent five years in the Canucks' fold. Most of his time was spent with the Dallas Black Hawks of the CHL and the AHL's Fredericton Express. As a rookie in 1981-82, he played 28 regular season games then became a mainstay in the playoffs when Vancouver marched all the way to the finals for the first time in franchise history. Two years later he saw the most action of his career and scored 20 points in 44 games for the club.
By the mid-'80s, Vancouver was going with Rick Lanz, Garth Butcher, Michel Petit, Doug Lidster, J.J. Daigneault, and Jiri Bubla on the blueline. Belland was signed as a free agent by the Pittsburgh Penguins prior to the 1986-87 season. The majority of his hockey was played in the AHL with the Baltimore Skipjacks and, as a result, forced the young blueliner to rethink his options. Belland signed with the Lukko club of Finland for the 1987-88 season before joining Innsbruck of Austria for three years. In 1990-91, he added experience and mobility to the Canadian National Team for a brief spell. Belland retired in 1994 after spending three years with the Austrian outfit EC Graz.
