Chris Simon

Christopher J. Simon (January 30, 1972 – March 18, 2024) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) and Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Known for his physical style of play and enforcer role, Simon played over 15 seasons in the NHL with teams including the Quebec Nordiques, Colorado Avalanche, Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, Calgary Flames, New York Islanders, and Minnesota Wild. He was part of the 1996 Stanley Cup-winning Colorado Avalanche team. Simon was also known for his aggressive play, receiving eight suspensions throughout his NHL career, totaling 65 games. After leaving the NHL, he continued his career in the KHL before retiring from professional hockey in 2013.

Playing career Simon grew up in Wawa, Ontario, playing his minor hockey for the Wawa Flyers of the NOHA. As a Bantam, he played Jr.B. hockey for the Sault Ste. Marie Thunderbirds of the NOJHL in 1987–88. Simon was selected in the third round (42nd overall) of the 1988 OHL Priority Selection by the Ottawa 67's. As a teen, he fought addictions and served an eight-game suspension for a stick-swinging incident while on the 67's. Simon subsequently became sober and counselled indigenous youth on the dangers of alcohol.

During the 1990–91 OHL season, Simon served a 12-game suspension for slashing David Babcock in the face, breaking seven teeth and opening a gash that required 21 stitches. The following season, Simon was suspended eight times for a total of 34 games, on two of those occasions by his own team.

Simon was of Ojibwa descent, and was born in Wawa, Ontario. Simon was seen as a role model to Indigenous Canadians for his accomplishments in the NHL.

Suspensions Simon was involved in numerous on-ice incidents and was suspended eight times by the NHL for his conduct, for a grand total of 65 games.

Mike Grier incident On November 8, 1997, during a game against the Edmonton Oilers, Simon was suspended three games for directing a racial slur at Edmonton's Mike Grier. Grier allegedly made derogatory comments about Simon's Ojibwe heritage, and Simon allegedly responded with a racial slur towards Grier, who is black, although the words spoken between the two players were never confirmed. Simon flew to Toronto to apologize to Grier, who accepted. Grier and Simon were later teammates for a brief time in 2002 with the Washington Capitals.

Ryan Hollweg incident On March 8, 2007, the Islanders faced their rival, the New York Rangers, at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. At 13:25 of the third period, Rangers forward Ryan Hollweg checked Simon from (what Simon felt was) behind, knocking him face first into the boards, and giving Simon a concussion. No penalty was assessed, and play continued. Simon then took a two-handed baseball swing in the face of Ryan Hollweg with his hockey stick as he skated by. Simon received a match penalty for attempt to injure, resulting in his ejection from the game. Hollweg suffered a cut to the chin that required two stitches. According to ESPN's Barry Melrose, Hollweg escaped serious injury because Simon's blow caught his shoulder pads before hitting his face.

Simon was automatically suspended indefinitely by the NHL due to his match penalty pending ruling by the league commissioner Gary Bettman and disciplinarian Colin Campbell. On March 11, he was suspended for the rest of the season, including playoffs, with a minimum of 25 games, and since the Islanders only played five playoff games, it continued into the first five games of the 2007–08 season. The Nassau County district attorney considered filing criminal charges against Simon, but declined. Hollweg later told Newsday that he was not interested in pressing charges.

Jarkko Ruutu incident On December 15, 2007, at 14:06 of the third period of a home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Tim Jackman and Jarkko Ruutu exchanged words between the teams' benches during a stoppage of play. Simon skated in behind Ruutu and pulled Ruutu's leg back with his own. When Ruutu fell to his knees, Simon stomped on the back of Ruutu's right leg with his skate and then stepped into the bench area. The incident was witnessed by referee Justin St. Pierre, who assessed Simon a match penalty for attempt to injure and ejected him from the game. The following Monday, Simon agreed to go on indefinite paid leave from the team, saying there was "no excuse" for his actions and that he needed some time away from hockey. However, the next day, Simon was suspended without pay for 30 games, the third-longest suspension for an on-ice incident in modern NHL history behind a 41-game suspension to Raffi Torres in 2015 and a one-year suspension handed down to Marty McSorley in 2000 (though McSorley only sat out 23 games before his contract expired and he left the NHL). League disciplinarian Colin Campbell said that in his opinion, Simon had "repeatedly evidence(d) the lack of ability to control his actions," and also stressed that this was his eighth disciplinary hearing. Following the suspension, Simon returned to play one more game with the New York Islanders before being traded to the Minnesota Wild.

After Chris Pronger was not initially disciplined by the NHL when he stomped on Ryan Kesler's leg on March 12, 2008, Simon decried what he saw as unfair and unequal treatment. On March 15, 2008, after a second review, the NHL suspended Pronger for eight games.

Minor incidents Simon was suspended for one game during the 2000 Stanley Cup playoffs for cross-checking Pittsburgh Penguins' Peter Popovic across the throat on April 13, 2000. He was given two-game suspensions, first on April 5, 2001, for elbowing Anders Eriksson, and twice more in 2004 for cross checking Tampa Bay Lightning's Ruslan Fedotenko and then jumping on and punching him, and for kneeing Dallas Stars's Sergei Zubov. He played for three teams in the KHL, including Chekhov Vityaz (113 games from 2008-2011), Moscow Dynamo (9 games during the 2010-2011 season), and Novokuznetsk Metallurg (52 games from 2011-2013). In a total of 168 regular season games played, he attained 41 goals, 48 assists, 574 penalty minutes.

Simon's first wife was Lauri Smith and they had a son. Later they divorced. He and his second wife Valerie had four children and they divorced in 2017.

In 2017, Simon filed for bankruptcy and claimed he was unable to work due to his hockey injuries. In the filing, a doctor testified that Simon had symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) which were believed to be attributed to significant brain trauma during his hockey career. The doctor further claimed that Simon suffered from depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and arthritis. In April 2025, it was confirmed Simon had stage three CTE.

Career statistics Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1988–89 Ottawa 67's OHL 36 4 2 6 31 — — — — — 1989–90 Ottawa 67's OHL 57 36 38 74 146 3 2 1 3 4 1990–91 Ottawa 67's OHL 20 16 6 22 69 17 5 9 14 59 1991–92 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds OHL 31 19 25 44 143 11 5 8 13 49 1992–93 Halifax Citadels AHL 36 12 6 18 131 — — — — — 1992–93 Quebec Nordiques NHL 16 1 1 2 67 5 0 0 0 26 1993–94 Quebec Nordiques NHL 37 4 4 8 132 — — — — — 1994–95 Quebec Nordiques NHL 29 3 9 12 106 6 1 1 2 19 1995–96 Colorado Avalanche NHL 64 16 18 34 250 12 1 2 3 11 1996–97 Washington Capitals NHL 42 9 13 22 165 — — — — — 1997–98 Washington Capitals NHL 28 7 10 17 38 18 1 0 1 26 1998–99 Washington Capitals NHL 23 3 7 10 48 — — — — — 1999–2000 Washington Capitals NHL 75 29 20 49 146 4 2 0 2 24 2000–01 Washington Capitals NHL 60 10 10 20 109 6 1 0 1 4 2001–02 Washington Capitals NHL 82 14 17 31 137 — — — — — 2002–03 Washington Capitals NHL 10 0 2 2 23 — — — — — 2002–03 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 61 12 6 18 125 — — — — — 2003–04 New York Rangers NHL 65 14 9 23 225 — — — — — 2003–04 Calgary Flames NHL 13 3 2 5 25 16 5 2 7 74 2005–06 Calgary Flames NHL 72 8 14 22 94 6 0 1 1 7 2006–07 New York Islanders NHL 67 10 17 27 75 — — — — — 2007–08 New York Islanders NHL 28 1 2 3 43 — — — — — 2007–08 Minnesota Wild NHL 10 0 0 0 16 2 0 0 0 0 2008–09 Vityaz Chekhov KHL 40 8 20 28 263 — — — — — 2009–10 Vityaz Chekhov KHL 30 13 12 25 110 — — — — — 2010–11 Vityaz Chekhov KHL 43 16 12 28 111 — — — — — 2010–11 UHC Dynamo KHL 3 0 1 1 0 6 2 0 2 18 2011–12 Metallurg Novokuznetsk KHL 24 3 0 3 43 — — — — — 2012–13 Metallurg Novokuznetsk KHL 28 1 2 3 28 — — — — — NHL totals 864 144 161 305 1824 75 10 7 17 191 KHL totals 168 41 46 87 553 6 2 0 2 18

Awards and honours Award Year RefNHL Stanley Cup champion 1996 KHL All-Star Game 2010, 2011