- Mark Bell (ice hockey)
-
Mark Bell 
Born August 5, 1980
St. Pauls Station, ON, CANHeight 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Weight 220 lb (100 kg; 15 st 10 lb) Position Left wing Shoots Left NHL team
Former teamsAnaheim Ducks
Chicago Blackhawks
San Jose Sharks
Toronto Maple LeafsNHL Draft 8th overall, 1998
Chicago BlackhawksPlaying 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.
Contents
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][12]
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.[13][14]
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".[15]
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. http://blog.syracuse.com/crunch/2011/07/anaheim_gets_deeper_down_the_m.html. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
- ^ a b "Chicago's Mark Bell: Lighting Lamps and Ringing Bells in The Windy City". NHL. http://www.nhl.com/kids/youngstar/bell.html. Retrieved 2007-08-16.
- ^ "Leafs get Toskala and Bell from Sharkslol". Canadian Press. 2007-06-22. Archived from the original on June 29, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070629231926/http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=211547&hubname=. Retrieved 2007-08-16.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Hunter, Paul; Mcgran, Kevin (October 6, 2008). "Leafs put Mark Bell on waivers". Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/512520. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
- ^ "Rangers pick up Bell off re-entry waivers". cbssportsline.com. 2009-02-25. http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/story/11425616. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
- ^ "Rangers claim Bell from Leafs on re-entry waivers". tsn.ca. 2009-02-25. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=268578&lid=sublink06&lpos=topRelated_nhl. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
- ^ "Sharks' Bell arrested on DUI suspicion". The Sports Network. 2006-09-05. Archived from the original on March 12, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070312035141/http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=176558&hubname=. Retrieved 2007-08-16.
- ^ "Sharks' Bell charged with felonies after Labor Day crash". CBS. 2006-12-07. http://cbs.sportsline.com/nhl/story/9857448. Retrieved 2007-08-16.
- ^ Mcgran, Kevin (August 16, 2007). "Leaf Bell blew 2.5 times legal limit". The Star (Toronto). http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/246859. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
- ^ "Jail time tolls for new Leaf Bell". 2007-08-14. http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/article.jsp?content=20070814_215806_5208. Retrieved 2007-08-16.
- ^ The Star (Toronto). http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/482697. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
- ^ "Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mark Bell suspended indefinitely by NHL". The Canadian Press. 2007-09-04. http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5g36iXsQiHHRuXzI6G44klV8xbPRg. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ Cox, Damien (September 13, 2007). "NHL rediscovers its backbone with Bell case". The Star (Toronto). http://www.thestar.com/Sports/NHL/article/256122. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
- ^ Hunter, Paul (August 17, 2007). "Crash changed my life, Leafs' Bell says". The Star (Toronto). http://www.thestar.com/Article/247259. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
External links
Preceded by
Ty JonesChicago Blackhawks first round draft pick
1998Succeeded by
Steve McCarthyCategories:- 1980 births
- Canadian criminals
- Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Norway
- Canadian ice hockey left wingers
- Chicago Blackhawks draft picks
- Chicago Blackhawks players
- Hartford Wolf Pack players
- Ice hockey people from Ontario
- Kloten Flyers players
- Living people
- Memorial Cup winners
- National Hockey League first round draft picks
- Norfolk Admirals players
- Ottawa 67's alumni
- People from Perth County, Ontario
- San Jose Sharks players
- Toronto Maple Leafs players
- Toronto Marlies players
- Trondheim Black Panthers players
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