Bell does time on prison work crew

It's unlikely many motorists zipping through Santa Clara County this summer paid much heed to the prison work crews at the side of the highway, let alone realized there was an NHL player toiling under the sizzling California sun.

But there, picking up garbage, cutting grass and pulling weeds, alongside men charged with everything from domestic violence to drug offences, was the Maple Leafs' Mark Bell, head down, sweating, wondering how long it would be till his next break, remembering what he'd done to put himself in this predicament.

"I was just like anybody else who made a mistake. I was treated like everybody else," Bell said yesterday. "I was afforded a lot of humility. I think I'm a better person for it."

A person, even one with a glamorous job and a $2.1 million (U.S.) salary on the horizon, has a lot of time for introspection while working as, Bell said with a chuckle, "a professional landscaper." That, of course, is the point of these work details. Bell had some 440 hours - eight hours a day, five days a week for 11 weeks - of self-discovery this summer as he served his sentence for a drunk driving charge.

Bell said he thought a lot about how good he had it, how lucky he was to better understand the importance of his family and friends, how he could try to be a role model for others and how excited he was for the upcoming hockey season.

Not once did he think about having another drink.

The winger says he has been dry since the September night two years ago when, driving with twice the legal amount of alcohol in his system, he smashed into the back of a pickup truck at a stop sign in the San Jose foothills. Bell was travelling at an estimated 100 kilometres an hour. The impact caused the driver of the truck multiple head, back and leg injuries.

In a California court, Bell pleaded no contest to charges of driving under the influence and hit-and-run. He was sentenced to six months in jail but that was commuted to participation in a work program.

On Monday, his work stint over, the 28-year-old Bell again stood before a judge in California and learned that he had paid his debt to society. He will have one more assessment hearing in the future but if he keeps out of trouble, as far as the criminal system is concerned, his sentence has been completed.

"That was a good day, let me tell you ... to finally put a close to it," he said.

Bell also said a civil lawsuit launched by the driver of the truck has been settled out of court.

If the accident in California was an epiphany for Bell to change his life, the work he did his summer simply reinforced that decision.

"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."

Bell said he hopes he can be a role model for others trying to bounce back from serious errors in judgment in their lives. That is why, he said, he willingly shares his story.

It is also why tonight he will again be in the small town of St. Marys, west of Kitchener, hosting the celebrity charity hockey game that carries his name. A native of nearby St. Pauls, Bell played minor hockey in St. Marys until he was 14 and money raised at his annual game at the new Pyramid Recreation Centre goes toward maintaining the complex.

And, unlike in California, Bell will be easily recognized in a town where he has remained a local hero despite his legal trouble. Though, Bell recalls of his summer, there was the odd work crew member who figured out who he was.

"No one really bothered me even if they did know who I was. They'd just ask what it was like to play in the NHL, that's about it," he said. "I met some people that did the same thing I did. They just messed up. Others, you just steered clear of."

Bell stayed at a friend's house and checked in for work each morning. He was allowed to wear his own clothes - this wasn't a chain gang of hard-core felons - but he did have to wear a prison-issue vest.

"You just put your ego aside, put your head down and did the work."

Zettler, Hunter join Leafs' staff

The Maple Leafs continued to challenge for the NHL lead in off-ice hirings yesterday, confirming Tim Hunter and Rob Zettler as new assistant coaches.

Hunter and Zettler had spent the past five seasons working with San Jose Sharks head coach Ron Wilson. The Leafs hired Wilson as their new bench boss last month.

"Their familiarity with Ron's coaching style, along with their previous success in San Jose, will allow them to quickly bring in a structured system for our players to work within," Leafs general manager Cliff Fletcher said.

The Sharks last year led the NHL in penalty killing (85.8%) and ranked third in goals against average (2.28).

DEFENCE KEY

With so many mediocre forwards up front, team defence will be key to any Leafs' success this year. The 40-year-old Zettler, a former defenceman, played 14 seasons in the NHL, including three with the Leafs (1995-98).

Hunter spent 16 seasons in the NHL, the majority with the Calgary Flames, where he won a Stanley Cup in 1989. Fletcher was the Flames' GM at the time.

A rough-and-tumble forward, Hunter, 47, still ranks eighth in all-time career penalty minutes (3,142).

Hollweg joins Leafs

The Maple Leafs have added some toughness, acquiring forward Ryan Hollweg from the New York Rangers yesterday for a 2009 fifth-round draft pick.

Hollweg, 25, had two goals and two assists and 96 minutes in penalties in 70 games with the Rangers last season.

The Leafs had not replaced enforcer Wade Belak, who went to the Florida Panthers at the trade deadline, and GM Cliff Fletcher recently said it was an issue that needed to be addressed.

Hollweg has five goals and seven assists in 200 career NHL games, all with New York.

He was the Rangers' eighth-round draft choice, 238th overall, in 2001.

New York gets Pittsburgh's pick in next year's draft, which was acquired by Toronto in the deal that sent defenceman Hal Gill to the Penguins at the deadline last season.

Leafs take a look at prospects

They came from different worlds but yesterday, two of the Maple Leafs' most prized prospects wound up on the ice together.

First-round draft pick Luke Schenn and promising Russian forward Nikolai Kulemin joined 19 other hopefuls as the Leafs' annual prospects camp sweated through Day 2 of a week-long camp.

There's an outside chance the two could parlay their work at the camp into a job with the Leafs come opening night in October.

Kulemin, who turns 22 Monday, holds an inside track, having proved himself in the Russian league the past two seasons, and agreeing to join the Leafs after the club opened the door to an NHL job.

Schenn, an 18-year-old from Saskatoon, is attempting to be the first defenceman to go from the prospects camp to the NHL team since Tomas Kaberle successfully crossed that bridge in 1998.

"Going from junior (with Kelowna) to the NHL, for one thing you are playing against men, so obviously you have to improve your strength, but you have to work at everything to get to this level," Schenn said.

Kulemin wasn't as talkative as Schenn yesterday. In fact, he shied away from a small (by Leaf standards) media scrum even though part of the camp's purpose is orientation into the NHL lifestyle, including facing large media scrums.

Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher, who gained Kulemin's consent to play in Toronto after the organization faced hurdles with the player over the past two years, feels the young Russian is ready for the NHL.

"Based on what we've seen in the Russian league, he looks like he's ready," Fletcher said of Kulemin, who has a dedicated highlight video tribute on YouTube.

Schenn, while showing obvious talent, remains at a point in his development where the Leafs may want to take a judicious approach.

There are seven candidates for the blue line and unless Bryan McCabe and possibly Pavel Kubina are traded, the Leafs will have little or no room for a teenaged defenceman, and could return Schenn to junior.

Schenn's Kelowna Rockets will almost certainly be a Memorial Cup favourite next season, and there is an opportunity to win another gold medal with the Canadian team at the world junior championship.

Leafs get Grabovski

MONTREAL -- The rival Canadiens and Maple Leafs completed a rare trade Thursday, with Montreal sending forward Mikhail Grabovski to Toronto in exchange for prospect Greg Pateryn and a second-round draft pick in 2010.

Grabovski, 24, had nine points (3-6) in 27 NHL games with the Habs over the past two seasons. He was a fifth-round pick, 150th overall, in 2004. He also had 20 points (8-12) in 12 games with the American Hockey League's Hamilton Bulldogs last season.

"Mikhail had tremendous success at the most recent World Hockey Championship (for Belarus)," Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher said in a statement. "He has great upside and we will look for him to contribute for us right away at the centre position."

Pateryn, 18, was drafted in the fifth round, 128th overall, by the Leafs last month in Ottawa. Last season in the United States Hockey League, Pateryn led all Ohio Jr. Blue Jackets defencemen with 27 points (3-24) in 60 games. He also led his team with 145 penalty minutes.

The Royal Oak, Mich., native was also named to the Eastern Division Team in the USHL Prospects/All-Star Game. Pateryn, 6-2 and 212 pounds, will join the University of Michigan for the 2008-09 season.

The Habs also signed defenceman Alex Henry, 28, and goalie Cedrick Desjardins, 22, to minor-league deals.

The Maple Leafs also signed forward Dominic Moore, 27, to a one-year deal. Centre John Mitchell, 23, signed a two-year contract and winger Greg Scott, 20, signed a three-year entry-level contract.

Sundin needs more time to decide

The 37-year-old captain of the Leafs - impressed by the magnitude of offers that came his way on Tuesday - says he needs more time to think about whether he will play again.

His agent, J.P. Barry, released a statement on his behalf today.

"I would like to thank all the teams who have expressed such sincere interest in my services," Sundin said the statement. "The numerous options provided to me were impressive and I have no doubt that each one presented a unique opportunity for me to finish my career in a terrific hockey environment."

The Vancouver Canucks offered Sundin a $20-million, two-year deal. The Maple Leafs offered him $7 million a year for two years. The Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers are also interested.

Sundin, an unrestricted free agent, still hasn't decided whether he wants to play next year.

"I spent a great deal of time yesterday reflecting upon the teams who stepped forward and the opportunities that each provided," said Sundin. "Unfortunately, I am simply not close to being ready to make a decision about resuming my career at this time.

"I wish all the teams the very best and thank them for their interest."

Hagman excited to join Blue & White

TORONTO -- The newest member of the Toronto Maple Leafs was at a birthday party for his grandfather when the phone calls started.

Niklas Hagman was experiencing free agency for the first time and wasn't sure how quickly his agent Don Baizley would start hearing from interested NHL teams. It turns out that it wasn't very long so he had go somewhere quieter while his grandfather Nils celebrated his 84th birthday.

"Pretty much the whole family was there," Hagman said on a conference call Wednesday from Finland. "When the phone started to ring a bit more I had to leave."

The 28-year-old had known since the end of the season that he would be heading to a new team because the Dallas Stars told him they were going in another direction.

Three or four NHL clubs expressed immediate interest. Hagman got a good feeling after speaking with Leafs coach Ron Wilson and GM Cliff Fletcher about the team and wasn't scared off by the fact Toronto is rebuilding.

"They gave the impression that they really wanted me," said Hagman. "I really wanted to go somewhere that the team really we wanted me.

"I believe that good things will come. I believe I can be a big part of it."

Before agreeing to his US$12-million, four-year deal on Tuesday night, Hagman placed a call to Leafs starting goalie Vesa Toskala.

The two players know one another from past experiences with the Finnish national team and Toskala sold Hagman on how nice the city is and how much he likes Wilson, who took over from Paul Maurice last month.

"He had only good things to say about the place," said Hagman. "For me, knowing him and what he said, (it) made me more certain."

The Leafs are hoping that Hagman can give them a season like the one he just had. The six-year NHL veteran had a career-best 27 goals and 41 points while playing all 82 games for Dallas.

He was also a useful penalty killer and should see some power-play time with the Maple Leafs.

"We look forward to him bringing his speed, grit and scoring touch to our lineup," Fletcher said after announcing his signing.

Hagman was a third-round draft pick by Florida in 1999 and had never scored more than 10 goals in a season until getting 17 for Dallas two years ago.

He got even more ice time last season and bumped that total to 27, which included eight game-winners and four short-handed markers. Hagman hopes to keep improving on that mark.

"I believe that I bring a lot more to the ice than just the goals but hopefully I'll try to score the goals next year too," said Hagman.

.At the very least, he has good bloodlines.

His father Matti was a legendary player in the Finnish league and became the first from that country to play in the NHL when he joined the Boston Bruins in 1976-77.

Hagman also has an aunt who was the European champion in the 400-metre dash and other relatives who have played on the national soccer team.

"In our family we've got a lot," said Hagman, who is married to model Piritta Hannula.

When Hagman attends a family birthday like he did on Tuesday, he's not even the most famous person in the room.

That title probably belongs to his father Matti, who was the longtime leading scorer in all of Finnish hockey.

"He's kind of the Wayne Gretzky of the Finnish league," said the younger Hagman.