Shawn James Robert Belle (born January 3, 1985) 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

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

who played in the

National Hockey League 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 ...

(NHL) with the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

and the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

Playing career

As a youth, Belle played in the 1998

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...

with a

minor ice hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from cla ...

team from

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. Belle was a highly touted prospect playing for the

Tri-City Americans The Tri-City Americans are a major junior ice hockey team of the Western Hockey League, based in Kennewick, Washington. The team plays its home games at Toyota Center (Kennewick), Toyota Center. Every game is broadcast locally on the Tri-City A ...

of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

(WHL) when he was drafted by the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

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. Japan lead 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. During the 2004–2005 season, Belle was traded to 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 (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and were founde ...

. For the 2005–2006 season, Belle turned pro and joined the Stars minor league affiliate, the

Iowa Stars The Iowa Stars, later known as the Iowa Chops, were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. The club was based in Des Moines, Iowa at the Wells Fargo Arena. History The Stars were founded by Howard Baldwin, of Hockey Holdi ...

. He played 45 games with the Stars before being traded to the

and joining their affiliate, the Houston Aeros, for the remainder of the season. 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. On July 11, 2008, Belle was traded to the

for forward

Corey Locke Corey Michael Locke (born May 8, 1984) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Since he made his professional debut in 2004, he has predominantly featured in the AHL, with appearances in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montr ...

. After two seasons within the Canadiens organization, Belle signed as a free agent to a one-year contract with hometown team, the

on July 13, 2010. On February 28, 2011, Belle was traded by the Oilers to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for defenceman Kevin Montgomery. Belle signed a contract abroad as a free agent with

Adler Mannheim The Adler Mannheim (English: ''Mannheim Eagles'', formerly Mannheimer ERC) is a professional ice hockey team of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, the highest-level ice hockey league in Germany. The team is based in Mannheim, a city in the northern pa ...

of the German

DEL Del, or nabla, is an operator used in mathematics (particularly in vector calculus) as a vector differential operator, usually represented by the nabla symbol ∇. When applied to a function defined on a one-dimensional domain, it denotes ...

on September 10, 2011. After two seasons in Mannheim, Belle signed a one-year contract in the

Swedish Hockey League The Swedish Hockey League (officially SHL; sv, Svenska Hockeyligan) is a professional ice hockey league, and the highest division in the Swedish ice hockey system. The league currently consists of 14 teams. The league was founded in 1975, an ...

with

Färjestad BK Färjestad Bollklubb (; abbreviated as FBK) is a Swedish professional ice hockey team based in Karlstad. Färjestad has had 21 Swedish Championship final appearances, winning ten times since the Swedish Hockey League (SHL; formerly Elitserien) ...

on June 10, 2013. On June 16, 2014, Belle continued his European journey in signing a one-year contract in the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

with Croatian team

KHL Medveščak Zagreb KHL Medveščak Zagreb ( hr, Klub hokeja na ledu Medveščak Zagreb), also known as KHL Medveščak Mladi, is a Croatian ice hockey club based in Zagreb, established in 1961. The team's name derives from the location of its original arena in the ...

. Prior to 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. 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 Düsseldorfer EG (short DEG) is a German professional ice hockey team in Düsseldorf. It was Germany's most successful hockey club for a long time and had many international players. The famous Eisstadion at the Brehmstrasse was the home venue for ...

. On July 23, 2015, Belle signalled the end of his professional playing career, in agreeing to an assistant coach role with the

Sherwood Park Crusaders The Sherwood Park Crusaders are a junior A ice hockey team in the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL). They play in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada, with home games at Sherwood Park Arena Sports Centre. History The Edmonton Crusaders joined the A ...

of the

Alberta Junior Hockey League The Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) is an Alberta-based Junior A ice hockey league that belongs to the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). It was formed as a five-team league in 1964. There are currently 16 teams in the league. The reg ...

Personal life

Belle is of Barbadian descent through his father.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Transactions

* June 21,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

- Drafted by the

in the 1st round, 30th overall. * June 25,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

- Traded to the

for

Jason Bacashihua Jason Bacashihua (born September 20, 1982) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender who last played for Manchester Storm in the UK Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). He has played in the National Hockey League with the St. Louis Blues, va ...

. * March 9,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

- Traded by the Stars to the

with Martin Skoula for Willie Mitchell and a 2nd round pick in 2007. * July 11,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

- Traded by the Wild to the

for

. * July 13,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

- Signed a one-year deal with the

. * February 28,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

- Traded by the Oilers to

for Kevin Montgomery.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Belle, Shawn 1985 births Living people Adler Mannheim players Black Canadian ice hockey players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey defencemen Canadian people of Barbadian descent Colorado Avalanche players Düsseldorfer EG players Edmonton Oilers players Färjestad BK players Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) players Houston Aeros (1994–2013) players Ice hockey people from Alberta Iowa Stars players Lake Erie Monsters players Minnesota Wild players Montreal Canadiens players National Hockey League first-round draft picks Oklahoma City Barons players Regina Pats players Sportspeople from Edmonton St. Louis Blues draft picks Tri-City Americans players