MVN - Most Valuable Network

Lest We Forget: Mark Bell

For fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the offseason has been a long one.

They’ve watched as their Captain has wrestled with his future in hockey and familiar faces have been forced to pack it up and move on.

Similarly, the fans have been able to watch the Leafs go in a younger, tougher direction—which is refreshing when you consider their past history—while introducing some new faces who could catch the fans attention come September and October.

There’s one player however, that everyone forgets.

One player who has gone quietly about his offseason, shying away from the media’s glare (although it’s not like he’s given much choice in the matter).

That player is Mark Bell.

You may remember him as the man who annihilated Daniel Alfredsson late in the season last year, or the forward who finished the season on a three game point streak.

You may also remember him as the spare part acquired in the Vesa Toskala trade, the  -2, 10-point player with 60 penalty minutes last season, or the “scraper” who missed 31 games after fracturing his orbital bone during a fight.

You probably know him as the drunk driver, charged with a hit-and-run, forced to serve an indefinite suspension to open last season, who is currently serving his time in a Santa Clara jail.

It was because of his off-ice problems and his lack of production that fans were begging for his buyout during the waning days of the 2007/08 season.

Cliff Fletcher stuck to his guns though, and despite his six-month sentence, Bell is still a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Granted he’s one of roughly eighteen forwards who could realistically compete for a job come September, but he is still a Leaf nonetheless.

But why?

Bell is a former protege of Ron Wilson who coached him for Bell’s lone season in San Jose. Could Wilson have possibly noticed something in Bell’s game that he never got an opportunity to fix with the Sharks?

After all, Wilson came in before the buy-out period, and if he truly thought Bell wasn’t a useful player to the organization he would have convinced Fletcher to buy him out wouldn’t he?

Maybe Fletcher saw some flashes of the kid who once scored 25 goals with the Chicago Blackhawks (in 2005/06) late last season and wondered if it would transpire over to this season.

Or maybe the Leafs just want to see if Mark Bell can be more effective after his past becomes just that—his past.

It’s quite likely that Bell’s ensuing jail time was weighing heavily on his mind throughout the course of the season, which explains the low point production.

If that’s the case, then Bell will be able to move on this season, and allow himself to concentrate solely on the game he loves.

Either that, or he’ll just become another teams’ first round bust who ended up wearing a Leafs jersey.

Just don’t forget about Mark Bell. One way or the other, he may surprise you come September.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 25th, 2008 at 11:15 pm and is filed under Mark Bell, Cliff Fletcher, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ron Wilson. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.