{{Short description|American ice hockey player (1957–2024)}} {{Use American English|date=February 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{for multi|the English footballer|Mark Wells (footballer)|the Australian musician and record producer|Mark Wells (musician)}} {{Infobox ice hockey player | position = Centre | shoots = Right | height_ft = 5 | height_in = 9 | weight_lb = 175 | played_for = Nova Scotia Voyageurs<br>Flint Generals<br>New Haven Nighthawks<br>Fort Wayne Komets<br>Oklahoma City Stars | league = | ntl_team = USA | birth_date = {{birth date|1957|9|18}}<ref>[https://www.quanthockey.com/olympics/en/team-rosters/team-usa-1980-olympics-roster.html 1980 Olympics Roster]</ref> | birth_place = St. Clair Shores, Michigan, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2024|5|14|1957|9|18}} | death_place = Escanaba, Michigan, U.S. | career_start = 1980 | career_end = 1982 | draft = 176th overall | draft_year = 1977 | draft_team = Montreal Canadiens | wha_draft = | wha_draft_year = | wha_draft_team = | image = | image_size = 230px | halloffame = | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport | Men's ice hockey}} {{MedalCountry|the {{USA}}}} {{MedalOlympic}} {{MedalGold| 1980 Lake Placid | Team}} }}
'''Mark Ronald Wells''' (September 18, 1957 – May 14, 2024) was an American professional ice hockey forward who was best known for being a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team.
==Amateur career== Mark Wells graduated from Lake Shore High School in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, in 1975.<ref name="candgnews.com">[http://www.candgnews.com/sports/mark-wells-%E2%80%98i-still-can%E2%80%99t-believe-it%E2%80%99-81346 Mark Wells: ‘I still can’t believe it’]</ref> Wells then attended Bowling Green State University from 1975 to 1979 where he was a star forward with the Falcons in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. Despite his abilities as a player, Wells did not receive a scholarship offer to play hockey until after his first season with the team.
Following the completion of his college career, Wells, along with Falcons teammate Ken Morrow, was selected to play on the 1980 U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey team that went on to win the gold medal at Lake Placid. Wells played centre on a line with Phil Verchota and Eric Strobel.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/28701139/inside-miracle-ice-how-team-usa-defied-numbers-beat-soviet-union-1980-olympics |title=Inside the Miracle on Ice: How Team USA defied the numbers to beat the Soviet Union at the 1980 Olympics |first=Chris |last=Peters |date=February 19, 2020 |work=ESPN |access-date=May 19, 2024}}</ref>
Wells was the last players added to the 1980 roster. He suffered from a hairline fracture during a training run, this threatened his chances.<ref>https://www.candgnews.com/news/remembering-mark-wells-5656</ref>
==Professional career== [[File:Mark Wells Jersey.jpg|thumb|The jersey that Mark Wells wore during the Miracle on Ice]] 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 secure a spot on the Canadiens roster. He was traded to the Detroit Red Wings after the 1980 season, however refused the assignment and was released from his contract.<ref name="nydailynews.com">[http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/hockey/mark-wells-story-miracle-misery-helping-united-states-beat-soviets-1980-article-1.452422 Mark Wells' story goes from 'Miracle' to misery after helping United States beat Soviets in 1980]</ref>
Wells then signed as a free agent with the New York Rangers but spent the next two seasons shifting around the minor leagues playing for the New Haven Nighthawks, Flint Generals, Fort Wayne Komets, and Oklahoma City Stars. Wells finally retired in 1982 without playing a single game in the NHL.
==Post-playing career== Following his retirement from hockey, Wells worked as a restaurant manager in Rochester Hills, Michigan, but sustained a fractured vertebra while unloading crates. Following eleven hours of surgery, Wells was informed by the doctor that he had a rare degenerative spinal disease. The illness, which affects the disks in the spinal column, forced Wells to retire from work and required multiple surgeries, leaving him bed-ridden for extended periods and clinically depressed.<ref name="nydailynews.com"/> Wells did, however, manage to suit up for the reunion game with his 'Miracle on Ice' teammates before the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City—against doctor's orders, playing in one shift and recording a shot on goal.<ref>{{cite web |title=HOCKEY; A 1980 Olympian Is Dreaming of His Miracle on Ice (Published 2002) |website=The New York Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181028142654/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/27/sports/hockey-a-1980-olympian-is-dreaming-of-his-miracle-on-ice.html |archive-date=2018-10-28 |url-status=live |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/27/sports/hockey-a-1980-olympian-is-dreaming-of-his-miracle-on-ice.html}}</ref>
In 2010, financially struggling from medical bills and in need of finances for further surgery, Wells reluctantly sold his gold medal medallion to a private collector for $40,000. The medal was later auctioned off by the buyer for $310,700.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aolnews.com/2010/11/06/mark-wells-miracle-on-ice-gold-medal-sells-for-310-700/ |title=Mark Wells' 'Miracle on Ice' Gold Medal Sells for $310,700 |publisher=AOL |date=November 6, 2010 |accessdate=October 26, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121101232248/http://www.aolnews.com/2010/11/06/mark-wells-miracle-on-ice-gold-medal-sells-for-310-700/ |archivedate=November 1, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=OlympicTalk |title=Another Miracle on Ice player's Olympic gold medal being auctioned |url=https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/news/steve-christoff-miracle-on-ice-gold-medal-auction |work=NBC Sports |date=14 January 2020}}</ref> Having kept the medal on his nightstand for over twenty years, Wells expressed in a 2010 ''Daily News'' article how difficult a decision it had been to sell the medal: "It killed me to sell the medal. Killed me. But my life was crumbling. I was going to lose my home. I needed to sell it to have surgery and to live. I had no choice."<ref name="nydailynews.com"/>
In later years, Wells attended civic events and spoke at several special venues around his hometown and beyond, including the St Clair Shores Lions Club fundraiser, SCS Tree Lighting Ceremony in Dec 2014, and seminar at the Arsenal of Democracy. Additionally, he made appearances at state hockey tournaments and various collectors shows around the country. He resided in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Wells died on May 14, 2024, at the age of 66.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-05-18 |title=Wells dies at 67, won gold medal with 'Miracle on Ice' team in 1980 Olympics {{!}} NHL.com |url=https://www.nhl.com/news/mark-wells-dead-at-67 |access-date=2024-05-18 |website=www.nhl.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>[https://www.andersonfuneralhomes.net/obituary/Mark-Wells Mark Ronald Wells] Anderson Funeral Homes</ref>
==Awards and achievements== {| class="wikitable" ! Award ! Year ! |- | All-CCHA First Team | 1976–77 | <ref name=CCHA>{{cite news|title=CCHA All-Teams|url=http://www.augenblick.org/chha/ccha_all.html|publisher=College Hockey Historical Archives|accessdate=May 19, 2013}}</ref> |- | All-CCHA First Team | 1978–79 | <ref name="CCHA"/> |- |}
*Olympic Gold Medal in Men's Ice Hockey, U.S. Men's Ice Hockey team: 1980<ref name="candgnews.com"/> *St. Clair Shores, Michigan, city officials rename the St. Clair Shores Civic Arena's Olympia Room as the Mark Wells Ice Rink: 2014<ref>[http://www.macombdaily.com/general-news/20140227/st-clair-shores-to-dedicate-ice-rink-to-mark-wells St. Clair Shores to dedicate ice rink to Mark Wells]</ref>
==In popular culture== Wells was featured in a 1981 TV movie about the 1980 U.S. hockey team called ''Miracle on Ice''. Jeff Miller, a retired California State Assemblyman played Wells in the 1981 movie, and Wells himself appeared in archival footage of the gold medal ceremony used in the movie.
In the 2004 Disney film ''Miracle'', he is portrayed by Joe Hemsworth.
==Career statistics== ===Regular season and playoffs=== {| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em" |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" | ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" | ! colspan="5" | Regular season ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" | ! colspan="5" | Playoffs |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! Season ! Team ! League ! GP ! G ! A ! Pts ! PIM ! GP ! G ! A ! Pts ! PIM |- | 1974–75 | Detroit Jr. Red Wings | SOJHL | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1975–76 | Bowling Green Falcons | CCHA | 32 | 17 | 27 | 44 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — |- | 1976–77 | Bowling Green Falcons | CCHA | 39 | 23 | 36 | 59 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1977–78 | Bowling Green Falcons | CCHA | 38 | 11 | 34 | 45 | 33 | — | — | — | — | — |- | 1978–79 | Bowling Green Falcons | CCHA | 45 | 26 | 57 | 83 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1979–80 | United States | Intl | 22 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — |- | 1979–80 | Nova Scotia Voyageurs | AHL | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1979–80 | Flint Generals | IHL | 19 | 9 | 13 | 22 | 19 | — | — | — | — | — |- | 1980–81 | New Haven Nighthawks | AHL | 67 | 14 | 29 | 43 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1981–82 | Fort Wayne Komets | IHL | 19 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — |- | 1981–82 | Oklahoma City Stars | CHL | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1981–82 | Flint Generals | IHL | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" | AHL totals ! 76 ! 15 ! 29 ! 44 ! 22 ! — ! — ! — ! — ! — |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" | IHL totals ! 44 ! 12 ! 24 ! 36 ! 33 ! — ! — ! — ! — ! — |}
===International=== {| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:50em" |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! Year ! Team ! Event ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" | ! GP ! G ! A ! Pts ! PIM |- | 1980 | United States | OG | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{icehockeystats}} * [http://www.hockeydraftcentral.com/1977/77176.html Mark Wells @ hockeydraftcentral.com] *{{Olympedia}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Mark}} Category:1957 births Category:2024 deaths Category:1980 US Olympic ice hockey team Category:American men's ice hockey centers Category:Bowling Green Falcons men's ice hockey players Category:Flint Generals players Category:Fort Wayne Komets players Category:Ice hockey players at the 1980 Winter Olympics Category:Ice hockey players from Michigan Category:Medalists at the 1980 Winter Olympics Category:Montreal Canadiens draft picks Category:New Haven Nighthawks players Category:Nova Scotia Voyageurs players Category:Oklahoma City Stars players Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in ice hockey Category:People from St. Clair Shores, Michigan Category:Sportspeople from Macomb County, Michigan