Mark Bell

Mark Bell (born August 5, 1980) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and a former professional ice hockey forward.

Bell was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round (8th overall) of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft.

In the NHL, Bell played for the Blackhawks, San Jose Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Anaheim Ducks.

Later in his career, he played in Switzerland and Germany.

Bell started playing hockey at the age of four years, and grew up admiring Wayne Gretzky and Doug Gilmour.

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.

He was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft as the eighth overall pick.

He scored his first goal against Patrick Roy.

Bell's time with Chicago was moderately successful, forming a partnership with fellow Tyler Arnason and Kyle Calder on a line nicknamed the "ABC line".

Bell was a bronze medalist with Team Canada at the 2000 World Junior Hockey Championships.

During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Bell played with the Trondheim Black Panthers in the Norwegian UPC-ligaen, recording 16 goals and 39 points in 36 games.

He scored 72 goals and 151 points in 339 games with the Blackhawks and 25 goals and 48 points in his final year.

The trio were considered the future for a rebuilding Blackhawks team, but never met expectations and in 2006, both Bell and Calder would be traded away.

In the summer of 2006, Bell was traded to the San Jose Sharks in a three-way deal involving Chicago and the Ottawa Senators Bell signed a three-year US$6.5 million contract July 2006.

Prior to the start of training camp, Bell was arrested and charged after being in a collision while driving under the influence (DUI).

He was initially placed on a line with Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo in his first year, but broke a bone in his wrist in the second game of the regular season.

Bell never lived up to expectations and could not duplicate the numbers that he put up in Chicago scoring only 11 times and accumulating 21 points in 71 games and was often a healthy scratch in the playoffs.

Bell was acquired by the Toronto Maple Leafs along with Vesa Toskala via trade at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft on June 22, 2007 for three draft picks.

After becoming part of the Leafs, Bell was then suspended the first 15 games for his DUI conviction.

He was reinstated by the NHL and was eligible to play his first game for the Maple Leafs on November 6, 2007.

He played just 35 games with the Maple Leafs, suffering a facial fracture that required surgery and was unable to regain his form.

The following year, he failed to break into the team during training camp and on October 6, 2008, Bell was placed on waivers which cleared the way for him being assigned to Toronto's AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies.

On February 25, 2009, Bell was placed on re-entry waivers by the Maple Leafs and was claimed by the New York Rangers.

He was then assigned to the Rangers' AHL team, the Hartford Wolf Pack to make room for fellow waiver claim Sean Avery who had been claimed from the Dallas Stars.

He was not re-signed at the end of the season.

He was invited to Philadelphia Flyers training camp on a professional tryout on September 2.

Bell was released from camp on September 22 after refusing to sign a two-way contract to play in the AHL.

On September 28, 2009 he signed with Nationalliga A club Kloten Flyers in Switzerland.

He played 108 games in two seasons with Kloten.

During his time in Switzerland, Bell played for Team Canada at the 2009 and 2010 Spengler Cups.

On July 20, 2011, Bell signed a one-year two-way contract to return to North America with the Anaheim Ducks of the NHL.

He was invited to the Ducks' training camp, but was assigned to Anaheim's AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch on September 25, 2011.

On January 20, 2012, Bell was recalled from Syracuse.

After five games with the Ducks, in which he was scoreless, he was reassigned to the Crunch for the remainder of the season.

On September 19, 2012, Bell ventured to Europe signing a one-year deal with the Iserlohn Roosters of the German DEL.

After not being able to renegotiate his contract with the Roosters, Bell signed with the Eisbären Berlin prior to the 2013–14 season.

In the late stages of the 2014–15 season, Bell sustained a concussion which sidelined him for a while, followed by a long-term ankle injury.

At the end of the 2015–16 season, Bell retired from professional ice hockey.

These health issues kept him from playing for almost one year, he made his comeback in late January 2016.

In July 2016, Bell joined the coaching staff of the St. Marys Jr. ‘B’ Lincolns as an assistant.