Mark Wells

Olympic medal record
Competitor for  United States
Men's Ice hockey
Gold	1980 Lake Placid	Team

Mark Ronald Wells (born September 18, 1957 in St. Clair Shores, Michigan) is a retired American ice hockey forward. He is best known for being a member of the Miracle on Ice 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team which won the gold medal.

On November 6, 2010, Mark Wells' gold medal was auctioned off for $310,700.^[1][2]

Amateur career

Wells attended Bowling Green State University from 1975-1979 where he was a star forward in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (he only received a scholarship offer to play ice hockey after his first season with the university team). He joined the 1980 Olympic team on a full time basis in 1979 after his college career had ended.

Professional career

Wells was selected 176th overall in the 1977 NHL Entry Draft by the Montreal Canadiens. He joined Montreal's top farm team the Nova Scotia Voyageurs after the Olympics but was unable to win a place on the Canadiens roster. He was released by Montreal after the 1980 season and then signed to a free agent contract by the New York Rangers. Wells spent the following two seasons in the minor leagues with the New Haven Nighthawks, Flint Generals, Fort Wayne Komets and Oklahoma City Stars and retired in 1982 without playing a single game in the NHL.

Post playing career

Wells worked as a restaurant manager in Rochester Hills, Michigan, after his retirement from hockey, but had to retire from work while still in his early 40s due to constant back problems. He suffers from a rare genetic disease of his spinal cord discs. The illness has left him bed-ridden for years and will plague him for the rest of his life, yet he managed to play in the 2002 "Miracle on Ice" reunion game against doctor's orders where he played one shift and recorded a shot on goal.

Wells sold his gold medal medallion to a private collector who in turn consigned it to Heritage Auctions of Dallas in the fall of 2010. On November 5, 2010, the medal was sold at auction for $310,700 to a private collector because Wells needed finances for medical treatment.

Awards and achievements

• CCHA All-Star First Team: 1976-77 and 1978-79 (Bowling Green)

In popular culture

Wells is not featured in a 1981 TV movie about the 1980 U.S. hockey team called Miracle on Ice except in archival footage of the gold medal ceremony.

In the 2004 Disney film Miracle, he is portrayed by Joe Hemsworth.

References

External links

• Mark Wells homepage www.miracleonice.net
• Mark Wells @ hockeydraftcentral.com
• Mark Wells's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database