Bell and Busted

The NHL is full of stories of players who mess up in various places,then, miraculously, grow up and find their game somewhere else.

There's not much to indicate that Mark Bell will find that place in Toronto. But its certainly possible.

The Leafs took a flyer on the kid, or had to take him as part of the deal to get goalie Vesa Toskala. They, like many teams, have had some success with these kinds of projects in the past. Richard Jackman once came to the Leafs as an unfulfilled former first round pick with a history of alcohol problems. The Leafs were at least part of his turnaround, and there he was last year, still playing in the league, and this time with the Stanley Cup champs.

Bates Battaglia, on the other hand, just didn't understand the committment needed to play in the league. The Leafs gave him a chance to find his way in the minors, and he became a useful depth player last season.

If you want to be a good NHL team, you have to have the ability to find such undervalued assets and turn them into regulars. Really, it's always been that way.

What was interesting was how the Leafs chose to address the news yesterday that Bell will be going to jail at the end of this season on drunk driving charges. Few realized that someone was hurt significantly in this incident - the driver of the truck Bell hit - and that Bell is still up to his eyeballs in legal problems over this incident.

The Leafs seemed slow to react, with GM John Ferguson finally issuing a bland, predictable statement crafted by some public relations guy, and then Bell doing to the same.

Contrast that with another athlete, albeit one in very different, non-legal bind. Stephen Ames failed miserably in his final PGA championship round pairing with Tiger Woods, but by the day after was on the media circut, very available to print, radio and TV reporters interested in discussing that and his exclusion from Presidents Cup team.

Suddenly, instead of being difficult to reach, Ames was everywhere, and suddenly he became a sympathetic character rather than a punchline.

For the Leafs, this Bell story isn't going to go away. But he's surely not the only 20-something to get in trouble with drinking and driving, and they would do well to find a way before training camp to get his story out there in a human way.

People will be much quicker to forget other stuff if he can play.

But right now, most people don't even know what he looks like. They just know he sounds like trouble, not a solution of any kind.

Comments

[sackman]

Say you're sorry for dragging Stephen Ames into this article. Really -- as a "writer" you should have SOME logical reason for making the comparison between Bell and Ames. Are you trying to say Ames is avail to the media to discuss his PROFESSIONAL golf life vs. Bell not being avail to discuss his PERSONAL error which led to a tragedy?? Are you honestly wondering why that might be? Shame on you Damien for posting this drivel, and shame on me for reading and then commenting on it.

[selvig]

Doesn't the NHl have some kind of alcohol policy? Isn't that part of the reason Theo Fluery is playing in Ireland right now?

Shouldn't any player arrested for breaking the law be suspended by the league?

[Guy]

Perhaps the story would go away if the so-called sports writers didn't take every opportunity to mention it in every attempt to tie their insepid ramblings to the fan friendly Maple Leafs.

There are plenty of interesting things going on in the sports world right now that are worthy of coverage. Bell's private life is not one of them.

[Glen Stewart]

Damien: Dany Heatley made a bad decision and someone wound up dead yet everyone seems to be warm and fussy toward him. So why did he get of so easily? cut the kid some slack!

[John Hunt]

The trade for Vesa Toskala looked bad a first and with today's events, just keeps getting worse.

Are the Leafs to become the Cincinnati Bengals of the NHL? The problem that the Bengals have is that their coaches and players almost daily are sucked into discussing their problem children and distracted from what they are paid to do, which is play football. Now, our clown for a GM willing makes the Leafs part of the Bell sideshow as part of a very expensive deal to make up for last year's very expensive goaltending mistake. JFJ2 must be kidding himself (or incredibly stupid) to think that in the media maelstrom of Toronto, Bell and the team are just going to be able to ignore Bell's legal problems and concentrate on hockey. Maybe in Anaheim or Nashville or another city that doesn't realize it has a hockey team, but not Toronto.

Why can't the Leafs ever become something more than a traveling circus? Why do I keep following this team?

[Kevin Fauth]

I also really don't think that there is any kind of comparison to be made between Ames and Bell. One issue is within the sport the other is outside.

Given that Ferguson and Bell are in Toronto I can't imagine doing anything but providing written/rehearsed messages to the media. Say the wrong thing and you get nothing but punishment and complete scrutiny.

Facing jail time is will be a sobering fact for Bell [literally] and should straighten him out. But I think it will weigh heavy on his mind throughout this season and perhaps we don't see any great results on the ice until after he has served his time.

[Jeff]

Ames may have been available to the media, but it was regarding his own charity golf tournament that he was running in Stoufville. That's the only reason he was available to the media.

[LeafsMB]

I agree with the first comment. Making a connection between Ames and Mark Bell is a reach at best. Mr. Cox, you seem to consistently attempt to drag the absolute worst out of the stories you write about. I find your pessimism to be very tiring. People make mistakes - and it is important to allow them to try to live through them and attempt to improve. I found it inspiring that many Leafs players were allowing Mark Bell to do this (hear Matt Stajan). Why must you continually hope for the worst? You seem to enjoy hearing of and commenting on other people's mistake and hiding behind the facade of "reporting" this information. Just once a positive, supportive comment would be appreciated about Toronto's sports teams.

[Dwayne Eddy]

The NHL and its television commentators need to stop glorifying beer drinking..they are very irresponsible to the youth of this country.

[k.d.]

Bell says he has not had a drink since the accident. Great for him and I hope he continues his sobriety. If he starts to have second thoughts later 6 months in the can will keep him on the right path. 'They' say Mr. Bell is a tough winger with talent. The leafs could use him on a line with Wellwood. After all tough winger and Leafs are not exactly a phrase that's been used a lot the last few years. It's about time we got someone who doesn't mind a dirty nose.
And why is everyone dumping on Raycroft. Unless there's something we don't know about his position in the dressing room, give him a break. He is very young for a goaltender. He wants to be a Leaf which is a positive and if he has any smarts he knows that to be on a succssefull Leafs team is golden. I have ragged on him in the past myself however I think the Leafs goaltending is the least of their problems.
Can't wait for the season to start. Have a great year men and as always, GO LEAFS GO ...

[Blue&White4Life]

I don't care about Bell's personal life, and to be honest I don't know why anyone else does....if the guy has a great year everyone in Leaf land will love the guy...but sad to say if he has a bad year, you'll never hear the end of this story. Everyone make mistakes, and what he did was stupid, but cut the guy some slack, he's a hockey player-so judge him on his performance on the ice, not off of it. Heatley got off pretty easy (I know he was not drunk - but his actions killed one of his friends) - so give this guy a break, let him focus on having a strong year with the Leafs.

[Gary]

I must be paranoid. First Bettman interferes when a Canadian wants to buy the pens and then the preds.
Then he gets involved when a new Leaf does something stupid (and is dealt with by the legal system)
But he sits silent with respect to Heatley, he's silent with respect to Jay Bouwmeester being charged with DUI. What about Eric and Jordan Staal?
I wonder what kind of suspension Bell would have got had he not been traded to a Canadian team.
I'll go out on a limb and say NONE!
Too bad we don't have sports columnists that have the guts to ask tough questions.
No what we do have is Canadians pandering to Americans, the way the Hockey News does. Spelling the American way because they don't want to offend their American readers. It's ok to offend Canadians huh?