Former NHL winger Chris Simon dies at age 52
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Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporter
Former NHL enforcer Chris Simon has died at 52. His family confirmed he died by suicide in a statement released Tuesday night.
“The family strongly believes and witnessed firsthand, that Chris struggled immensely from CTE which unfortunately resulted in his death,” the statement, provided by Simon’s former agent, Paul Theofanous, on behalf of Simon’s family, read.
“We are grieving with the loss of our son, brother, father, partner, teammate and friend. The entire Wawa community is sharing in our grief. We will not be releasing any further details at this time and ask for privacy during this very difficult time. We appreciate everyone who shares in our tragic loss.”
There’s no way to confirm CTE — the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy — while a person is alive, though doctors can identify suspected cases based on symptoms and neurological exams.
Simon was known for his physicality in a career that saw him play for seven franchises. A member of the Quebec Nordiques, he was part of the team that relocated to Denver and helped the Avalanche win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history during the 1995-96 season.
“Chris was a great guy, a beloved teammate and important part of our first championship season,” Avalanche president Joe Sakic said in a statement. “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.”
The Islanders posted on social media that Simon “epitomized what it means to be an Islander, someone who wore his heart on his sleeve both on the ice and in the community.”
The NHL called Simon a “fierce competitor and teammate.” The NHL Alumni Association’s social media account read: “Chris was never afraid to stand up for his teammates, and played a key role in the dressing room. He was a beloved friend, father, brother, and son.”
“For a big tough player, he was also a very kind, caring individual who was always respectful and grateful for advice,” former agent Larry Kelly said in a text message to The Associated Press.
Simon spent the bulk of his career with the Washington Capitals and scored a career-high 29 goals and 49 points during the 1999-2000 season. He would also play for the Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, Calgary Flames, Islanders and Minnesota Wild over his career.
Simon, who was of Ojibwa descent, was considered a role model for First Nations hockey players across Canada.
“Chris Simon was most definitely an intimidating guy on the ice,” former teammate Mike Commodore posted on social media. “We spent a lot of time together during Flames ’04 run since we were both living in the hotel. … He couldn’t have been nicer to me. RIP Chris. You will be missed.”
Simon last played in the NHL in the 2007-08 season before spending the next five seasons playing in the KHL in Russia, where he became a two-time all-star.
He finished his NHL career with 1,824 penalty minutes and 305 points in 864 games.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Tim Keown
TOKYO — Shohei Ohtani seems impervious to a variety of conditions that afflict most humans — nerves, anxiety, distraction — but it took playing a regular-season big-league game in his home country to change all of that.
After the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ Opening Day 4-1 win over the Chicago Cubs in the Tokyo Dome, Ohtani made a surprising admission. “It’s been a while since I felt this nervous playing a game,” he said. “It took me four or five innings.”
Ohtani had two hits and scored twice, and one of his outs was a hard liner that left his bat at more than 96 mph, so the nerves weren’t obvious from the outside. But clearly the moment, and its weeklong buildup, altered his usually stoic demeanor.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Shohei nervous,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But one thing I did notice was how emotional he got during the Japanese national anthem. I thought that was telling.”
As the Dodgers began the defense of last year’s World Series win, it became a night to showcase the five Japanese players on the two teams. For the first time in league history, two Japanese pitchers — the Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Cubs’ Shota Imanaga — faced each other on Opening Day. Both pitched well, with Imanaga throwing four hitless innings before being removed after 69 pitches.
“Seventy was kind of the number we had for Shota,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “It was the right time to take him out.”
The Dodgers agreed, scoring three in the fifth inning off reliever Ben Brown. Imanaga kept the Dodgers off balance, but his career-high four walks created two stressful innings that ran up his pitch count.
Yamamoto rode the adrenaline of pitching in his home country, routinely hitting 98 with his fastball and vexing the Cubs with a diving splitter over the course of five three-hit innings. He threw with a kind of abandon, finding a freedom that often eluded him last year in his first year in America.
“I think last year to this year, the confidence and conviction he has throwing the fastball in the strike zone is night and day,” Roberts said. “If he can continue to do that, I see no reason he won’t be in the Cy Young conversation this season.”
Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki went hitless in four at bats — the Cubs had only three hits, none in the final four innings against four relievers out of the Dodgers’ loaded bullpen — and rookie Roki Sasaki will make his first start of his Dodger career in the second and final game of the series Wednesday.
“I don’t think there was a Japanese baseball player in this country who wasn’t watching tonight,” Roberts said.
The Dodgers were without Mookie Betts, who left Japan on Monday after it was decided his illness would not allow him to play in this series. And less than an hour before game time, first baseman Freddie Freeman was scratched with what the team termed “left rib discomfort,” a recurrence of an injury he first sustained during last year’s playoffs.
The night started with a pregame celebration that felt like an Olympic opening ceremony in a lesser key. There were Pikachus on the field and a vaguely threatening video depicting the Dodgers and Cubs as Monster vs. Monster. World home-run king Saduharu Oh was on the field before the game, and Roberts called meeting Oh “a dream come true.”
For the most part, the crowd was subdued, as if it couldn’t decide who or what to root for, other than Ohtani. It was admittedly confounding: throughout the first five innings, if fans rooted for the Dodgers they were rooting against Imanaga, but rooting for the Cubs meant rooting against Yamamoto. Ohtani, whose every movement is treated with a rare sense of wonder, presented no such conflict.
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