Some devastating news has hit the NHL world.
Former NHL enforcer and fan favorite Chris Simon has passed away at the age of 52, the NHL Alumni X/Twitter account announced on Tuesday. A cause of death has not been revealed.
There were reports going around on the internet earlier in the day that Simon had passed away. The NHL Alumni account and several of Simon’s former NHL teammates, including Joe Sakic and Mike Commodore, sadly confirmed the news.
Per ESPN’s Ryan S. Clark, Sakic shared the following statement on the tragic news:
“Chris was a great guy, a beloved teammate and important part of our first championship season. He was a really good hockey player who could score goals, was a big presence in the dressing room and was the first person to stand up and defend his teammates. Off the ice he was an unbelievable guy and a caring father, son, brother, and friend. He will be sorely missed.”
Simon won a Stanley Cup as a member of the Colorado Avalanche in the 1995-96 season, the NHL franchise’s first in Denver after relocating from Quebec. Though he was mostly known for his fists, Simon was a key contributor on offense that year with 16 goals and 34 points in 64 games.
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The 6-foot-3, 232-pound winger also reached the Stanley Cup Final with the Washington Capitals and Calgary Flames in 1998 and 2004, respectively. Both those teams are among the greatest almost-Cinderella stories in NHL history, and Simon’s performance on the ice was a key reason why the Caps and Flames each came close to a Stanley Cup championship.
Like most NHL enforcers in his era, Simon was a fan favorite with whichever team he landed on. The 25th overall pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1990 NHL Draft managed to rack up nine seasons of 100-plus penalty minutes, including 250 alone in the 2003-04 and 1995-96 seasons.
Chris Simon’s NHL Career Stats
In all, Chris Simon played for seven NFL franchises. Aside from the Nordiques/Avalanche, Capitals and Flames, Chris Simon also played for the New York Islanders, Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild and New York Rangers.
Simon’s best offensive season came in the 1999-2000 NHL season, when he scored 29 goals and 49 points for Washington. In 782 career games, Simon scored 144 goals and 305 points to go along with 1,824 career penalty minutes.
