Shawn James Robert Belle (born January 3, 1985) is a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

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 l ...

who played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) with the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confer ...

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

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 (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

and the

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

Playing career

As a youth, Belle played in the 1998

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament () is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, and give an opportunity for international competition to p ...

with a

minor ice hockey Minor ice hockey or 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 c ...

team from

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

. Belle was a highly touted prospect playing for the

Tri-City Americans The Tri-City Americans are an American major junior ice hockey team playing in the Western Hockey League and based in Kennewick, Washington. Founded in 1966 as the Calgary Buffaloes, the team settled in Kennewick in 1988 after a number of re ...

of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a 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 hocke ...

(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. 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. During the 2004–2005 season, Belle was traded to the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. The Stars compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The Stars ...

. 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. After two seasons within the Canadiens organization, Belle signed as a free agent to a one-year contract with his 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 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 (SHL; ) is a professional ice hockey league in Sweden and the highest level of the ice hockey in Sweden, Swedish ice hockey system. The league currently consists of 14 teams. The league was founded in 1975, and while Li ...

with Färjestad BK on June 10, 2013. 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. 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. 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. 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 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. The 2023–24 season began with 16 teams, however 5 ...

Personal life

Belle is of Barbadian descent through his father.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Transactions

* June 21,

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

- Drafted by the St. Louis Blues 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 60 ...

- Traded to the

for Jason Bacashihua. * March 9,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

- Traded by the Stars to the

with Martin Skoula for Willie Mitchell and a 2nd round pick in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. * July 11,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

- Traded by the Wild to the

for Corey Locke. * July 13,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

- Signed a one-year deal with the

. * February 28,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

- 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 Black Canadian sportsmen 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 sportspeople 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 Edmonton Iowa Stars players Lake Erie Monsters players Minnesota Wild players Montreal Canadiens players NHL first-round draft picks Oklahoma City Barons players Regina Pats players St. Louis Blues draft picks Tri-City Americans players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen