Prior to being drafted by the NHL, Bell attended High School at St. Pius X High School. He grew up a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Bell played in the CJHL for the Ottawa Jr. Senators where he was selected as the league's Rookie of the year. Bell then moved on to the Ontario Hockey League with the Ottawa 67's where in four OHL seasons, he scored 43 goals, 176 assists, and 218 points in 303 games, including the playoffs. In 2002–03, his final season with the 67's, Bell was named the top defenseman in both the OHL and CHL. He also played on the silver-medal winning Canadian team in the 2003 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.
Professional
Bell was drafted in the third round, 65th overall, of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by the Toronto. In his first pro season with St. John's Maple Leafs, the 2003–04 season, Bell scored 7 goals and 19 assists for 26 points. He also had 55 penalty minutes. Bell made his NHL debut with the Leafs in the 2005–06 season. On February 27, 2007, Bell was traded by the Leafs to the Phoenix Coyotes along with a draft pick for Yanic Perreault. On July 11, 2008, Brendan signed as a free agent with the Ottawa Senators to a one-year contract. In the 2008-09 season Bell played in a career-high 53 games with the Senators contributing with 21 points. On July 31, 2009, Bell signed with the St. Louis Blues on a one-year contract. After starting the 2009–10 season playing 22 games with AHL affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen, Brendan was traded by St. Louis, along with Tomas Kana, to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Pascal Pelletier on December 8, 2009. On May 19, 2010, Bell signed a one-year contract with Russian team, Avangard Omsk, of the KHL. After a single game with Omsk despite recording 2 assists, Bell signed with Swiss National League team EHC Biel, where he played for the rest of the season. On August 3, 2011, Bell signed a contract with the New York Rangers He appeared in a solitary game with the Rangers during the 2011–12 season, however primarily spent his time with the Connecticut Whale of the AHL, as an alternate captain. For the 2012–13 season, Bell signed a one-year contract to play for the Frölunda Indians in the Swedish Hockey League. After an unproductive campaign with the Indians, Bell returned to EHC Biel for the 2013–14 season. Prior to the 2014–15 season, Bell returned to North America and accepted a try-out invitation to attend the Anaheim Duckstraining camp. He was reassigned to the Ducks AHL affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals to begin the year. Bell produced 23 points in 47 games from the blueline with the Admirals before he was traded for future considerations to the Chicago Wolves on March 3, 2015.
