Chris Wells (born November 12, 1975) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former professional hockey player who played in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

with the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

and Florida Panthers.

Playing career

Wells was playing with the

Seattle Thunderbirds The Seattle Thunderbirds are a major junior ice hockey team based in the city of Kent, Washington, south of Seattle. They are part of the U.S. Division of the Western Conference in the Western Hockey League. They play their games at home in acc ...

in the WHL when he was drafted in the 1st round, 24th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the

1994 NHL Entry Draft The 1994 NHL Entry Draft was the 32nd NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Hartford Civic Center on June 28–29, 1994. The last active players in the NHL from this draft class were Patrik Elias and Eric Boulton, who both played their last NHL ...

. His large size (6'6" 223 lbs) along with a strong physical presence and scoring touch contributed to his high draft choice. For the 1994–1995 season Wells returned to the Thunderbirds and scored 108 points in 68 games while contributing 148 PIMs as well. The following year Wells made his debut in the NHL, appearing in 54 games with the Penguins. Wells began the 1996–97 year with the

Cleveland Lumberjacks The Cleveland Lumberjacks were an International Hockey League (IHL) team based in Cleveland, Ohio. Facts :Owner: Larry Gordon :Logo design: "Buzz"- A beaver wearing overalls holding a homemade hockey stick framed by a circular saw blade :Divis ...

of the IHL when he was traded by the Penguins to the Florida Panthers for

Stu Barnes Stuart Douglas Barnes (born December 25, 1970) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. He played 16 seasons at centre in the NHL with the Winnipeg Jets, Florida Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres, and Dallas Stars. He cur ...

and Jason Woolley. He played 4 years with the Panthers, having his best year during the 1997–98 campaign in which he scored 15 points and appeared in 61 games. Wells also skated for the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

and was signed by the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and were founded during the 1967 NHL expansion as the Minne ...

in 2000 . Instead he was sent to the

Utah Grizzlies The Utah Grizzlies are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah. Franchise history The current Utah Grizzlies franchise started in 1981 as the Nashville South Star ...

. On November 20, 2002, Wells debuted in the Russian Superleague with the Khabarovsk Amur Tigers and played on a line with former NHL all-star Sergei Krivokrasov. He later played parts of three seasons in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, Russia and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. Wells retired from hockey in 2005.

Career statistics

Awards

*1995: WHL West First All-Star Team *2000: Calder Cup winner AHL *2004: European championship Italy

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Chris 1975 births Living people Amur Khabarovsk players Cleveland Lumberjacks players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Russia Florida Panthers players Hartford Wolf Pack players Ice hockey people from Calgary Louisville Panthers players National Hockey League first-round draft picks Peoria Rivermen (AHL) players Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks Pittsburgh Penguins players Portland Pirates players Rødovre Mighty Bulls players Seattle Thunderbirds players Utah Grizzlies (IHL) players Canadian ice hockey centres