Chris Simon: where does he play?

Christopher J. Simon is a former professional Canadian hockey player who played in the position of a left-handed hitter. Chris spent 20 seasons on ice: 15 in the National Hockey League and 5 - in the Continental. Last time he played for "Metallurg" (Novokuznetsk) in the KHL. An interesting fact is that during the career in the NHL, Simon's fines for disciplinary reasons totaled 65 games.

Playing career

Chris Simon is a hockey player who was born on January 30, 1972 in Wawa, Ontario. There he began to play in the league for beginners of his age category. Later he moved to Bantam, where he began to play professional hockey. Later, he was selected in the 3rd round (42nd overall) in the AHL in 1988 in Ottawa Sixti Sevens.

Chris Simon, whose biography is rich in performances in various clubs, was selected in the 2nd round (the 25th overall) in 1990 on the NHL draft "Philadelphia Flyers", but was sold as part of the exchange for Lindros at "Nordix Quebec" Not having played a single Ira for "pilots". He also played for Calgary, Colorado Avalanche, Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, where he alternately acted as the left and right flank striker. He also went on the ice in the games for the "New York Islanders" and "Minnesota Wild."

In 1996, he won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche. Each player of the winning team receives 24 hours to single-handedly stay with the Cup. Simon took him to his hometown of Vava, Ontario. After showing it to the townspeople, he and his grandfather along the maternal line took the Cup for fishing.

Chris Simon was a player of the Washington Capitals when the club reached the Stanley Cup final in 1998. He enjoyed great success in the NHL, but the shoulder injury did not allow him to spend a lot of time in the playoffs. Operation on the shoulder was made in December 1998, after which he became the best scorer of the team in 1999-2000 with 29 goals in 75 games. In addition, he played in the Stanley Cup final for the Calgary in 2004. Later, Simon signed a contract as a free agent in 2006 with the New York Islanders. Then the player was sold to the Minnesota Wild.

Penalties

Simon took part in numerous incidents on ice. 8 times he received long disqualifications for several matches. As a result, in total for his career in the NHL accumulated 65 games of a clean penalty.

Incident with Mike Greer

November 8, 1997 during a game against the Edmonton Oilers, Chris Simon was disqualified for three games, as he struck a stick of Edmonton player Mike Grier. Greer allegedly allowed himself humiliating comments about the legacy of the Ojibwe people, whose descendant Simon considered himself, and Chris responded with a sharp racist statement (supposedly called him a "Negro"). It is interesting that the spoken words between the two players have not been confirmed. Later, Simon flew to Toronto to apologize to Greer. Greer and Simon were later teammates for a short time in 2002 in the Washington Capitals.

Incident with Hallweg

On March 8, 2007, the "islanders" collided with the "New York Rangers" and played in the arena "Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum". At around 13:25 of the third period, the Rangers were on the attack. Hallweg was behind Simon and hit him with his head against the side, resulting in Chris getting a concussion. However, no penalty was given, and the game continued. Simon then took Hallweg's face with both hands and hit him with the stick. As a result, Chris was removed to the end of the game and received a lengthy disqualification. Hollweg had a wound on his face from neck to chin, so it took two seams. According to ESPN journalist Barry Melrose, Hollweg has avoided serious injuries only because Simon's blow fell first to the shoulder and then to the face.

Chris Simon was automatically disqualified indefinitely in the NHL while waiting for the decision of the commissioner of the league. On March 11, Simon's penalty was set at a minimum of 25 games, and he also spread to the first five games of the 2007-08 season. The district attorney of the county of Nassau considered the criminal case after filing the application against Simon, but refused the suit. Hollweg later told Nezdeye that he was not interested in bringing charges against Chris.

In addition, on March 10 Simon issued a statement in which he apologized to Hollweg and the league and said that there was absolutely no place in hockey for what he had done. He claimed that he did not remember much about the incident, because he was not himself because of a concussion.

Incident with Jarkko Ruutu

December 15, 2007 at 14:06 of the third period in the home game against the "Pittsburgh" Tim Jackman and Jarkko Ruutu began a verbal skirmish between the benches of teams during the stoppage of the game. Simon rolled behind to Ruutu and pulled Yarkko's leg back with his own, overturning him. When the Finn fell to his knees, Simon stepped on the right leg of the player's skate, and then went to the bench. As a result, the striker was removed for the whole match.

The following Monday Simon agreed to go on an indefinite paid leave from the team, saying that "there can be no justification for his actions" and that he needs to spend some time away from the hockey stadium. Nevertheless, the next day Simon was suspended without saving wages for 30 games. This is the third longest disqualification in the modern history of the NHL (the longest - in Torres in 2015 for 41 matches and one year of suspension from hockey McShorley in 2000, although the latter served only 23 games fine, after which his contract was over and he left the NHL) . League commissioner Colin Campbell said that, in his opinion, Simon "repeatedly proved the lack of ability to control his actions," and also stressed that it was his eighth disciplinary hearing during his time in the NHL. After disqualification, the NHL allowed him to play. He played another game for the New York Islanders before being sold to the Minnesota Wild.

Minor incidents

Chris Simon (NHL) was disqualified for one game in the playoff series of the 1999/2000 season in a series with the Pittsburgh Penguins for Peter Popovich's attack on his throat on April 13, 2000. He also received two disqualification games: the first time on April 5, 2001 for an elbow blow from Andres Eriksson, and then in 2004 for striking the forward of Tampa Bay forward Artem Fedotenko, as well as for hitting the knees of the defender Dallas Stars "by Sergei Zubov.

Chris Simon: where does he play?

After 15 seasons in the NHL hockey player went to the KHL, where he spent 3 seasons for the Moscow region "Vityaz", the season for the Moscow "Dynamo" and two seasons for Novokunetsk Metallurg. In 2013, Chris Simon, whose statistics in the KHL was much more modest than in the NHL, completed his career.

Personal life

His father John has Indian roots and refers himself to the descendants of the Ojibwe people, whose representatives reside in the Wikwemikong Unceded Nature Reserve on Manitoulin Island.

As a teenager, the hockey player struggled with addiction to alcohol and cocaine, but the future coach of the "Buffalo Sabers" and "New York Islanders" Ted Nolan helped to find a way of sobriety. Chris Simon, whose height / weight ratio is 195 cm / 105 kg, initially wanted to be a defender, but Ted retrained him into a flanking striker.