Shawn Belle

Shawn Belle
Belle with the Iowa Stars during the 2005-06 season
Born	(1985-01-03) January 3, 1985 (age 41) 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
	2005 Minnesota
	2004 Helsinki
IIHF U18 Championships
	2003 Yaroslavl

International

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2002	Canada Pacific	U17			6	0	2	2	6
2002	Canada	U18			5	2	2	4	6
2003	Canada	WJC18			7	1	1	2	0
2004	Canada	WJC			6	0	1	1	0
2005	Canada	WJC			6	1	0	1	6
Junior totals					30	4	6	10	18

Transactions

• June 21, 2003 - Drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the 1st round, 30th overall.
• June 25, 2004 - Traded to the Dallas Stars for Jason Bacashihua.
• March 9, 2006 - Traded by the Stars to the Minnesota Wild with Martin Skoula for Willie Mitchell and a 2nd round pick in 2007.
• July 11, 2008 - Traded by the Wild to the Montreal Canadiens for Corey Locke.
• July 13, 2010 - Signed a one-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers.
• February 28, 2011 - Traded by the Oilers to Colorado Avalanche for Kevin Montgomery.

See also

• List of black NHL players

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". Färjestad BK (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".

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com , or  Eliteprospects.com , or  Hockey-Reference.com , or  The Internet Hockey Database

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Jeff Taffe	St. Louis Blues first-round draft pick 2003	Succeeded by Marek Schwarz