Shawn Belle

Shawn Belle
Belle with the Iowa Stars during the 2005-06 season
Born (1985-01-03) January 3, 1985 (age 39)
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 235 lb (107 kg; 16 st 11 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Minnesota Wild
Montreal Canadiens
Edmonton Oilers
Colorado Avalanche
Adler Mannheim
Färjestad BK
Düsseldorfer EG
NHL draft 30th overall, 2003
St. Louis Blues
Playing career 2005–2015

Shawn James Robert Belle (born January 3, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Minnesota Wild, Montreal Canadiens, Edmonton Oilers and the Colorado Avalanche.

Playing career

As a youth, Belle played in the 1998 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Edmonton.[1]

Belle was a highly touted prospect playing for the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League (WHL) when he was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the 1st round, 30th overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. After being drafted, Belle returned to the Americans and played for 2 more years there. Belle has spent time with Team Canada’s junior program. He has played on the U-18 gold medal teams in 2003 as well as the U-20 team in 2003 and 2004. He also participated in the 2003 and 2004 Canada-Russia Challenge, while representing Team WHL and represented North America in the America Japan challenge.[citation needed]

Japan led 6-4 in the challenge before Belle's goal sparked a 4-goal burst by North America, who won in a final score of 8-7. The next year Belle's penalty in triple OT cost North America as they fell 1-0.[citation needed]

During the 2004–2005 season, Belle was traded to the Dallas Stars.[2] For the 2005–2006 season, Belle turned pro and joined the Stars minor league affiliate, the Iowa Stars. He played 45 games with the Stars before being traded to the Minnesota Wild and joining their affiliate, the Houston Aeros, for the remainder of the season.[3] For the 2006–2007 season, Belle played the majority of the year with the Aeros but also made his NHL debut with the Wild, skating in 9 games and recording 1 assist.[citation needed]

On July 11, 2008, Belle was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for forward Corey Locke.[4]

After two seasons within the Canadiens organization, Belle signed as a free agent to a one-year contract with his hometown team, the Edmonton Oilers on July 13, 2010.[5] On February 28, 2011, Belle was traded by the Oilers to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for defenceman Kevin Montgomery.[6]

Belle signed a contract abroad as a free agent with Adler Mannheim of the German DEL on September 10, 2011.[7]

After two seasons in Mannheim, Belle signed a one-year contract in the Swedish Hockey League with Färjestad BK on June 10, 2013.[8]

On June 16, 2014, Belle continued his European journey in signing a one-year contract in the Kontinental Hockey League with Croatian team KHL Medveščak Zagreb.[9] Before the 2014–15 season, he was released from his contract without appearing for the club due to a pre-existing injury on August 31, 2014.[10] On November 10, 2014, having recovered to full health, Belle made a return to Germany in signing for the remainder of the season with Düsseldorfer EG.[11]

On July 23, 2015, Belle signalled the end of his professional playing career, by agreeing to an assistant coach role with the Sherwood Park Crusaders of the Alberta Junior Hockey League.[12]

Personal life

Belle is of Barbadian descent through his father.[13]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2000–01 Regina Pats WHL 4 0 3 3 0 — — — — —
2000–01 Tri–City Americans WHL 2 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
2001–02 Tri–City Americans WHL 64 1 17 18 51 5 2 1 3 2
2002–03 Tri–City Americans WHL 66 7 14 21 77 — — — — —
2003–04 Tri–City Americans WHL 55 9 20 29 68 11 3 5 8 15
2004–05 Tri–City Americans WHL 62 13 32 45 76 5 1 1 2 6
2005–06 Iowa Stars AHL 45 1 2 3 63 — — — — —
2005–06 Houston Aeros AHL 16 1 1 2 18 8 1 0 1 4
2006–07 Houston Aeros AHL 57 4 14 18 73 — — — — —
2006–07 Minnesota Wild NHL 9 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
2007–08 Houston Aeros AHL 63 1 2 3 74 3 0 0 0 2
2008–09 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 60 3 10 13 93 6 1 0 1 16
2009–10 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 70 3 16 19 69 19 1 6 7 20
2009–10 Montreal Canadiens NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2010–11 Oklahoma City Barons AHL 39 3 17 20 61 — — — — —
2010–11 Edmonton Oilers NHL 5 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2010–11 Lake Erie Monsters AHL 12 3 3 6 8 7 0 3 3 8
2010–11 Colorado Avalanche NHL 4 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2011–12 Adler Mannheim DEL 46 3 5 8 87 14 1 3 4 14
2012–13 Adler Mannheim DEL 42 2 7 9 68 3 0 1 1 2
2013–14 Färjestad BK SHL 39 3 3 6 62 14 0 1 1 18
2014–15 Düsseldorfer EG DEL 28 0 3 3 22 12 2 4 6 8
AHL totals 362 19 65 84 459 43 3 9 12 50
NHL totals 20 0 1 1 2 — — — — —
Medal record
Representing  Canada
Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2005 Minnesota
Silver medal – second place 2004 Helsinki
IIHF U18 Championships
Gold medal – first place 2003 Yaroslavl

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2002 Canada Pacific U17 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 6 0 2 2 6
2002 Canada U18 1st place, gold medalist(s) 5 2 2 4 6
2003 Canada WJC18 1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 1 1 2 0
2004 Canada WJC 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 6 0 1 1 0
2005 Canada WJC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 6 1 0 1 6
Junior totals 30 4 6 10 18

Transactions

See also

References

  1. ^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Retrieved 2019-02-12.
  2. ^ "Blues get Bacashihua". NBC Sports. 2004-06-24. Archived from the original on 2012-09-02. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
  3. ^ "Wild acquires Skoula, Belle for Mitchell". Minnesota Wild. 2006-03-09. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
  4. ^ "Wild acquires center Corey Locke". Minnesota Wild. 2008-07-11. Retrieved 2010-05-11.
  5. ^ Matheson, Jim (2010-07-13). "Edmonton also signs Shawn Belle to one-year contract". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
  6. ^ "Avs make minor move at NHL trade deadline, but Liles stays in Colorado". Denver Post. 2011-03-28. Retrieved 2011-03-12.
  7. ^ "Shawn Belle erhält Probevertrag". Adler Mannheim. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  8. ^ "Färjestad acquires Canadian defender" (in Swedish). Färjestad BK. 2013-06-10. Retrieved 2013-06-10.
  9. ^ "Medvescak defence fortified by Shawn Belle". KHL Medveščak Zagreb. 2014-06-16. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  10. ^ "Slovakian defender Mezei signs instead of Belle" (in Croatian). KHL Medvescak Zagreb. 2014-08-31. Retrieved 2014-08-31.
  11. ^ "Dusseldorf commit to defender Shawn Belle" (in German). Düsseldorfer EG. 2014-11-10. Retrieved 2014-11-14.
  12. ^ "Crusaders add assistant coaches Shawn Belle and Wendell Hodgson". Alberta Junior Hockey League. 2015-07-23. Retrieved 2015-07-23.
  13. ^ "Shawn Belle".
Awards and achievements
Preceded by St. Louis Blues first round draft pick
2003 		Succeeded by