Shawn Belle

Shawn Belle (born Shawn James Robert Belle on January 3, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Minnesota Wild, Montreal Canadiens, Edmonton Oilers and the Colorado Avalanche.

Playing Career
Shawn was a highly touted prospect playing for the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League (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, he returned to the Americans and played for 2 more years.

During the 2004–2005 season, Shawn was traded to the Dallas Stars.

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

Shawn played 45 games with the Stars before being traded to the Minnesota Wild and joining their affiliate, the Houston Aeros, for the remainder of the season.

For the 2006–2007 season, he 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, Shawn was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for forward Corey Locke.

After two seasons within the Canadiens organization, he signed as a free agent to a one-year contract with hometown team, the Edmonton Oilers on July 13, 2010.

On February 28, 2011, he was traded by the Oilers to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for defenceman Kevin Montgomery.

Shawn signed a contract abroad as a free agent with Adler Mannheim of the German DEL on September 10, 2011.

After two seasons in Mannheim, Shawn signed a one-year contract in the Swedish Hockey League with Färjestad BK on June 10, 2013.

On June 16, 2014, Shawn continued his European journey in signing a one-year contract in the Kontinental Hockey League with Croatian team KHL Medveščak Zagreb.

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, he made a return to Germany in signing for the remainder of the season with Düsseldorfer EG.

On July 23, 2015, Shawn signalled the end of his professional playing career in agreeing to an assistant coach role with the Sherwood Park Crusaders of the Alberta Junior Hockey League.

International Play
Shawn has spent time with Team Canada’s junior program.

He has played on the U-18 gold medals 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 his goal sparked a 4 goal burst by North America, who won in a final score of 8-7. The next year, Shawn's penalty in triple OT cost North America as they fell 1-0.