| Mark Bell | |
| |
| Position | Left wing |
| Shoots | Left |
| Height Weight |
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 220 lb (100 kg) |
| NHL Team F. Teams |
Anaheim Ducks Chicago Blackhawks San Jose Sharks Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Born | August 5, 1980, St. Pauls Station, ON, CAN |
| NHL Draft | 8th overall, 1998 Chicago Blackhawks |
| Pro Career | 2000 – present |
Mark Bell (born August 5, 1980) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward currently signed by the Anaheim Ducks[1] of the NHL.
Playing career[]
Bell started playing hockey at four years old, and grew up admiring Wayne Gretzky and Doug Gilmour.[2] He played four seasons in the minor Ontario Hockey League with the Ottawa 67's, and was part of the Memorial Cup championship in 1998–99.
Chicago Blackhawks[]
He was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft as the eighth overall pick, and scored his first goal against Patrick Roy.[2] Bell's time with Chicago was moderately successful
Bell was a bronze medalist with Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championships in 2000.
San Jose Sharks[]
In the summer of 2006, he was traded to the San Jose Sharks in a three-way deal involving Chicago and the Ottawa Senators[3] Bell signed a US$6.5 million contract July 2006, which paid US$2 million for the first two years of the contract and US$2.5 million for the final year. He was initially placed on a line with Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo, however Bell never lived up to expectations and could not duplicate the numbers that he put up in Chicago, and so was demoted to the fourth line, often being a healthy scratch.
Toronto Maple Leafs[]
He was acquired by the Toronto Maple Leafs via trade at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft on June 22, 2007. After becoming part of the Leafs, Bell was then suspended the first 15 games for his DUI conviction (see below). On October 6, 2008, Bell was placed on waivers,[4][5] which cleared the way for him being assigned to Toronto's AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies.
Recent[]
On February 25, 2009, Bell was placed on re-entry waivers and claimed by the New York Rangers.[6][7] He was then assigned to the Rangers' AHL team, the Hartford Wolf Pack.
He was invited to Philadelphia Flyers training camp on September 2 and signed on October 6, 2009 with Nationalliga A club Kloten Flyers from Switzerland. In November 2010, the Kloten Flyers announced that Bell would not receive a new contract.
Bell played for Team Canada at the 2009 and 2010 Spengler Cups. On July 20, 2011, Bell signed a one-year contract with the Anaheim Ducks of the NHL.
Legal trouble[]
During the 2006 Labour Day weekend, in Milpitas, California, Bell's rented Toyota Camry was traveling an estimated 100 km per hour when it rear-ended a pickup truck at a stop sign driven by Jose Luis Villafana, the latter's vehicle being hit 15 metres up a steep hill and wrapped it around a telephone pole. The victim was uninsured and unlicensed and suffered multiple head, back and leg injuries in the crash. Bell was arrested shortly after walking away from the accident. He blew .201 in a breathalyzer test about a half-hour after the accident, and a blood test revealed a blood-alcohol level of 0.15, considerably higher than the legal limit of 0.08.
Bell was charged with hit and run and driving under the influence.[8] Both are felony offences. His arraignment was set for January 3, 2007.[9] Bell pleaded no contest to drunk driving causing injury and hit-and-run on August 14, 2007. Prior to sentencing, Bell had to pay restitution, including medical bills and the cost of the vehicle to Villafana, who has also filed a civil suit seeking "unlimited damages" which was later settled out of court.[10] He was to serve six months in jail after completing the 2007–08 hockey season but later told to work in a California jail which he did from June 2, 2008 to August 15, 2008.[11]
In addition to his conviction, Bell was placed in Stage 2 of the NHL/NHLPA Substance Abuse Program and was suspended for 15 games without pay by the NHL on September 12, 2007. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman justified the suspension, saying "Playing in the National Hockey League is a privilege, and with that privilege comes a corresponding responsibility for exemplary conduct off the ice as well as on it". The NHLPA disagreed, saying "there is no legitimate purpose served by adding a substantial league disciplinary suspension to the severe sanctions that have already been imposed". Leafs manager John Ferguson, Jr., who drew criticism for the trade, had anticipated that Bell would face some sort of suspension, however based upon past precedent they did not expect it to be so lengthy. This had been suggested as a sign that the NHL was imposing stricter discipline for off-ice antics of players, after Michael Vick was expelled from the NFL as a result of his conviction for running a dog-fighting ring.[12][13]
Bell has stated that as a result of the accident, realizing that his career was slipping away because of his irresponsibility, he has changed his lifestyle and has been sober since then, saying "Now, every day I wake up I realize I'm living a dream. It's taken a while for me to understand that. Now that I have, I'm going to grab it. My fun now is at the rink".[14]
Career statistics[]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1996–97 | Ottawa 67's | OHL | 65 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 40 | 24 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 13 | ||
| 1997–98 | Ottawa 67's | OHL | 55 | 34 | 26 | 60 | 87 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 14 | ||
| 1998–99 | Ottawa 67's | OHL | 44 | 29 | 26 | 55 | 69 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 8 | ||
| 1999–00 | Ottawa 67's | OHL | 48 | 34 | 38 | 72 | 95 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2000–01 | Norfolk Admirals | AHL | 61 | 15 | 27 | 42 | 126 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 10 | ||
| 2000–01 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 80 | 12 | 16 | 28 | 124 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 2002–03 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 82 | 14 | 15 | 29 | 113 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 82 | 21 | 24 | 45 | 106 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 82 | 25 | 23 | 48 | 107 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 71 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 83 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2007–08 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 35 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 60 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Toronto Marlies | AHL | 56 | 12 | 15 | 27 | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Hartford Wolf Pack | AHL | 18 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 31 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2009–10 | Kloten Flyers | NLA | 39 | 13 | 14 | 27 | 69 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 29 | ||
| 2010–11 | Kloten Flyers | NLA | 41 | 16 | 9 | 25 | 58 | 18 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 60 | ||
| OHL total | 212 | 105 | 102 | 207 | 291 | 48 | 16 | 18 | 34 | 35 | ||||
| AHL total | 145 | 33 | 50 | 83 | 191 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 14 | ||||
| NHL total | 445 | 87 | 95 | 182 | 597 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||||
| NLA total | 80 | 29 | 23 | 52 | 127 | 28 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 89 | ||||
References[]
- ↑ Kramer, Lindsay. Anaheim gets deeper down the middle with signing of veteran center Bell. Web Article. Retrieved on 20 July 2011.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chicago's Mark Bell: Lighting Lamps and Ringing Bells in The Windy City. NHL. Retrieved on 2007-08-16.
- ↑ "Leafs get Toskala and Bell from Sharkslol", Canadian Press, 2007-06-22. Retrieved on 2007-08-16. Archived from the original on June 29, 2007.
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ "Leafs put Mark Bell on waivers", Toronto Star, October 6, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-10-06.
- ↑ Rangers pick up Bell off re-entry waivers. cbssportsline.com (2009-02-25). Retrieved on 2009-02-25.
- ↑ Rangers claim Bell from Leafs on re-entry waivers. tsn.ca (2009-02-25). Retrieved on 2009-02-25.
- ↑ "Sharks' Bell arrested on DUI suspicion", The Sports Network, 2006-09-05. Retrieved on 2007-08-16. Archived from the original on March 12, 2007.
- ↑ "Sharks' Bell charged with felonies after Labor Day crash", CBS, 2006-12-07. Retrieved on 2007-08-16.
- ↑ Mcgran, Kevin. "Leaf Bell blew 2.5 times legal limit", The Star, August 16, 2007. Retrieved on March 27, 2010.
- ↑ "Jail time tolls for new Leaf Bell", 2007-08-14. Retrieved on 2007-08-16.
- ↑ "Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mark Bell suspended indefinitely by NHL", The Canadian Press, 2007-09-04. Retrieved on 2007-09-04.
- ↑ Cox, Damien. "NHL rediscovers its backbone with Bell case", The Star, September 13, 2007. Retrieved on March 27, 2010.
- ↑ Hunter, Paul. "Crash changed my life, Leafs' Bell says", The Star, August 17, 2007. Retrieved on March 27, 2010.
External links[]
| Preceded by Ty Jones |
Chicago Blackhawks first round draft pick 1998 |
Succeeded by Steve McCarthy |
| This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Mark Bell. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA). |