Chris Simon Chris Simon ( born January 30 , 1972 ) is a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger whose last club was UHC Dynamo of the Kontinental Hockey League ( KHL ) . Playing career . Minor hockey . 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 S . S . Marie Thunderbirds of the NOJHL in 1987 - 88 . He was selected in the 3rd round ( 42nd overall ) of the 1988 OHL Priority Selection by the Ottawa 67 ' s . Simon was drafted in the 2nd round ( 25th overall ) of the 1990 NHL Entry Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers , but was traded as part of the Eric Lindros deal to the Quebec Nordiques before playing any games for the Flyers . He has also played for the Calgary Flames , Colorado Avalanche , Washington Capitals , Chicago Blackhawks , New York Rangers where he split the season as a left wing and right wing , New York Islanders and Minnesota Wild . In 1996 , he won the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche . Each player on the winning team is given 24 hours alone with the Cup . Simon took it to his hometown of Wawa , Ontario . After showing it to the townspeople he and his maternal grandfather took the Cup on a fishing trip . Simon was a member of the Washington Capitals when they went to the Stanley Cup finals in 1998 . He had been enjoying great offensive success that season until a shoulder injury knocked him out for much of the playoff run . He underwent season - ending shoulder surgery in December 1998 . He was the team ' s leading goal scorer in the 1999 – 2000 season with 29 goals in 75 games . He also made it to the Stanley Cup finals with the Calgary Flames in 2004 , and played for the Flames for two seasons before being signed as a free agent in 2006 by the New York Islanders and was then traded to the Minnesota Wild for a 6th round draft pick . Suspensions . Simon has been involved in numerous on - ice incidents and has been suspended eight times for his conduct for a grand total of 65 games . On November 8 , 1997 , during a game against the Edmonton Oilers , Simon was suspended three games after calling Edmonton forward Mike Grier a " nigger " . Simon flew to Toronto to apologize to Grier . Grier and Simon were later teammates for a brief time in 2002 with the Washington Capitals . Simon was suspended for one game in a 2000 playoff series against Pittsburgh for cross checking Peter Popovic across the throat on April 13 , 2000 . He was given two - game suspensions once on April 5 , 2001 for elbowing Anders Eriksson , and twice in 2004 for cross checking Tampa Bay ' s Ruslan Fedotenko and then jumping on and punching him , and for kneeing Dallas ' s Sergei Zubov . Ryan Hollweg incident . On March 8 , 2007 , the Islanders faced the rival New York Rangers at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum . At 13 : 25 of the third period , Rangers forward Ryan Hollweg checked Simon which Simon felt was from behind , knocking his face first into the boards . No penalty was assessed , and play continued . Simon then struck Hollweg in the face 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 . On March 11 , Simon ' s suspension was set at a minimum of 25 games , and 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 . On March 10 , Simon issued a statement in which he apologized to Hollweg and the league and said that there is " absolutely no place in hockey for what I did " . He asserted that he did not remember much about the incident because he was " completely out of it " as a result of the concussion . Jarkko Ruutu incident . On December 15 , 2007 , at 14 : 06 of the third period of a home game against Pittsburgh , Tim Jackman and Jarkko Ruutu had some 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 stepped on the back of Ruutu ' s right leg with his skate and then went to the bench . Simon was given a match penalty for attempt to injure and ejected 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 . The next day , Simon was suspended for 30 games , the second - longest suspension for an on - ice incident in modern NHL history behind a one - year suspension handed down to Marty McSorley in 1999 – 2000 . 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 , visibly hesitant in limited ice time , before being traded to the Minnesota Wild . When Chris Pronger was not initially disciplined by the NHL when he stepped on Ryan Kesler ' s leg in March 2008 , Simon decried what he saw as unfair and unequal treatment . On March 15 , 2008 , the NHL suspended Pronger for 8 games . Personal life . His father , John , is of Ojibwa descent from the Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve on Manitoulin Island , Ontario . As a teenager , he struggled with an addiction to alcohol but was helped to sobriety by former New York Islanders coach , Ted Nolan , in 1992 .