FanHouse Mark Bell

Red Wings 4, Sharks 1: In the fourth -- and final -- regular season installment of Western Conference Finals Preview '09, Detroit picked up a 4-1 win over San Jose on Wednesday night. Henrik Zetterberg scored a pair of goals in the win, including a shorthanded marker early in the second period to give the Wings a commanding 3-0 lead.

Marian Hossa and Ville Leino also scored for Detroit, while Ty Conklin turned aside 34-of-35 shots in net. The loss snaps San Jose's four game winning streak, while the two teams split the season series.

Late last summer, we brought you the story of Leafs (and ex-Sharks) winger Mark Bell, the young man who was foolish enough to drive around town after a long night of quaffing beers at the bar.

As you might expect with a drunk driver, Bell roared around Silicon Valley at very high speed, rear-ended an unsuspecting sap and causing serious upper body injuries. Thanks to his semi-celebrity status, Bell managed to avoid serious jail time and settled his case out-of-court.

Still, Bell had to pay some price and learn his lesson. In addition to the token NHL suspension, Bell had to perform 440 hours of community service (eight hours a day, five days a week for 11 weeks) of "professional landscaping".

"I don't consider myself an alcoholic and I never will consider myself an alcoholic. But I got in trouble because of alcohol and, to me, that's a problem. I had to change things in my life so I changed them," he said.

"I was ashamed of what I did when it first happened. And embarrassed, all the emotions that came along with it. But you know what? It happened. I made a mistake. At the same time, I've been through a lot and I've overcome a lot. I'm actually very proud of myself for what I've overcome."

Perhaps this humbling experience of forced manual labor really did give Bell enough time to reflect on what he did and where he was going in life. Bell was fortunate that he didn't cause the death of the victim, and now has the opportunity to get his hockey career back on track. Many other drunk drivers aren't quite so fortunate.

As for Bell's hockey career, it's very hard to project just how he'll do and how much he'll play. For all of his career, Bell has not put up the offensive numbers that many expects were expecting, and his last two seasons in the NHL were among his worst. I think 30+ points would be a pleasant surprise.

Not too long ago, Leafs forward Mark Bell was suspended by the NHL for his drunken driving, an incident which he faces jail time for.

At the time, we pointed out how the culture of beer drinking seems to permeate through the NHL ranks, with numerous incidents to back up the claim.

Well, even old time players can't seem to escape the grip of the bottle, and it ends up resulting in lost lives. Case in point: Rob Ramage, a defenseman with over 1,000 games experience, who has been found guilty of causing the death of another former NHLer, thanks to driving while under the influence. Ironically, the crash happened just after the two men were at a funeral for another hockey personality.

A jury has found former NHL player Rob Ramage guilty on all five charges he faced in connection with a fatal 2003 crash that killed a former Chicago Blackhawks player.

That includes a guilty verdict on the most serious charge, impaired driving causing death.

Keith Magnuson died on Dec. 15, 2003, when a rental car driven by Ramage slammed head-on into another vehicle.

The prosecution said scientific evidence showed Ramage had up to four times the legal blood-alcohol limit at the time of the crash, though none of the hundreds of people at an earlier reception could say he had a single drink.

So, I guess we can check off another addition to 'the list'.

Who's In: Vesa Toskala (Trade-SJ), Mark Bell (Trade -SJ), Jason Blake (UFA - NYI), Scott Clemmensen (UFA-NJD)

Who's Out: Mike Peca (UFA-CLB), Jeff O'Neill (UFA), Yanic Perreault (UFA - CHI), J.S. Aubin (UFA -- LAK), Travis Green (Who Cares?)

Who's in Jail: Mark Bell (DUI)

Who Should be in Jail (by Bell's metric): Dany Heatley (Contract Year -- OTT).

What's Changed: Maybe, just maybe, the rebuilding process that was hinted at last season with JFJ's signing of stop-gap, bargain UFA's like Jeff O'Neill and Mike "No Knees" Peca is actually taking place for real in the Center of the Hockey Universe. With the exception of signing, and over-paying for, Jason Blake, the Leafs were relatively quiet this off-season. A quick scan of the roster yields something not seen round those parts in quite the long time, a gaggle of younglings and maturing twentysomethings. More shocking than that is the fact that most of them have been nurtured within the bosom of the Maple Leafs farm system.

Mark Bell, the Toronto Maple Leafs/ex-Sharks forward who is looking forward to jail time for a drunk driving incident, and a pending civil suit, has now been suspended by the NHL. The suspension will be indefinite, and without pay, until he completes Stage Two of the NHL/NHLPA's Substance Abuse Program.

In order to be reinstated, Bell will require the recommendation of program doctors along with the approval of both the National Hockey League and the NHLPA.

Sources say Bell's plea encouraged his placement into stage two as outlined by the substance abuse program even though more than a year has passed since the incident took place.

It's good to see the NHL take the extra step and suspend Bell like this. Even though Bell is going to serve some jail time after the season, he could easily relapse and have another episode if he doesn't take care of the addiction side of the equation. As we've seen with countless empty-headed celebrities, a little jail time does little to deter people from making bad choice.

While this suspension is good PR for the league, the real benefit will be to Mark Bell, should he recover from his problem and not choose to drive while intoxicated.

As for the Leafs, this trade continues to get worse and worse ...

The news for drunk driving Mark Bell just got a whole lot worse!

Already facing jail time after the season, Bell is being sued in a civil suit, and could end up having to pay out a whole pile of cash to the victim in the case.

Bell's problems won't end with his sentence, which could be commuted to four months for good behavior. Bell also faces a lawsuit from Villafana, seeking "unlimited" damages.

"It's very early in the proceedings and we intend to pursue it all the way through," Villafana lawyer Samuel Samaniego told the Star yesterday. "We've sued in Superior Court for unlimited. Basically that means we're going to be going for everything."

According to the police report, Bell wasn't injured that night, but Villafana suffered multiple cuts to his head and face, swelling in his left foot, pain in both knees, chest pain while breathing and back pain all over. He missed work. He didn't have a driver's license nor did he have insurance.

Hmm, the d00d didn't have a license or insurance, and he expects a cash windfall?

Yes, a man who should not have EVEN BEEN ON THE ROAD thinks he deserves a big cash payout.

Excuse me while any sympathy I might have had just evaporated into thin air. How does Villafana justify a civil suit when he put himself on the road illegally? If Villafana is breaking the law, then he should waive all right to any financial compensation he may be seeking. As much as I despite Mark Bell's actions, Villafana simply should not have been in such a position to be struck by Mark Bell's vehicle, and should face his own criminal charges.

Sadly, we know exactly what this is about. Mark Bell is a wealthy NHL player, and a greedy lawyer has convinced his client that he squeeze Mark Bell for all he's worth. Villafana can milk his 'injuries' and set himself up for the good life on Bell's tab. Lovely!

Given how the 'victim' tends to win these case so bloody often, Bell better set aside some of his money to pay out to this lunkhead.

See also: Mark Bell, Just Another NHL Drunk Driver.

The culture of boozing it up permeates the NHL player ranks like a Trojan virus. Steve Chiasson's 1999 drunk driving death of was, sadly, reflective of the beer-swilling, drunk and dangerous driving nature of many NHL players.

The latest dopey NHLer to be caught boozing and cruising was Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mark Bell, who could face jail time for his stupidity. Thanks to his athletic status, however, he won't miss any games for the Buds.

Bell pleaded guilty in a San Jose courtroom Tuesday to charges of drunk driving causing injury and hit and run.

The Leaf forward, picked up in the Vesa Toskala trade with San Jose in June, will be sentenced to six months in a Santa Clara ,California county jail to be served at the end of this upcoming season.

The charges stem from an incident in San Jose on Labour Day last year when Bell's vehicle rear-ended a pickup truck in the early morning hours, leaving the driver of the truck with head injuries.

While hockey players are generally good citizens, especially compared to their other North American sporting brethren, drinking and driving is the one long-standing tradition the league would rather not have blacking its eye..

As writer Jamie Fitzpatrick points out, such incidents have lead to quite a few accidents and deaths for NHL players (and not just Chiasson), including one involving Oilers head coach Craig MacTavish, who had a woman die in a crash he caused.

I could go on, but John Berkovich put together a pretty 'nice' list of the drinking and driving incidents NHLers have been involved in. The list is far too long for any sportsfan's liking.

Sure, the NHL claims to be helping people through it's joint substance abuse program with the NHLPA, but it doesn't appear to be helping any. Until the newer generation of players learns that drinking and driving is far from acceptable, this is a trend that we'll, sadly, see continue.