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.[3]
Professional career
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.[4]
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.[4] 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.[5]
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.[6][7] 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."[4]
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.[8][9]
Olympic Gold Medal in Men's Ice Hockey, U.S. Men's Ice Hockey team: 1980[2]
St. Clair Shores, Michigan, city officials rename the St. Clair Shores Civic Arena's Olympia Room as the Mark Wells Ice Rink: 2014[11]
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.
