Stu Grimson - The Grim Reaper: The Life and Career of a Reluctant Warrior

VIKING

an imprint of Penguin Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited

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First published 2019

Copyright 2019 by Stu Grimson

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

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LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

Title: The grim reaper : the life and career of a reluctant warrior / Stu Grimson Names: Grimson, Stu, 1965- author.

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 2019010113X | Canadiana (ebook) 20190101148 | ISBN 9780735237247 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780735237254 (HTML)

Subjects: LCSH: Grimson, Stu, 1965- | LCSH: Hockey playersCanadaBiography. | LCGFT: Autobiographies.

Classification: LCC GV848.5.G79 A3 2019 | DDC 796.962092dc23

Book design: Five Seventeen

Cover design: David Gee

Cover image: Mark A. Hicks

All photos are from the personal collection of Stu Grimson, with the following exceptions. Every effort has been made to contact the copyright holder of all uncredited images.

Image of Stu Grimson and Dave Manson: Ray Grabowski, GrabowskiPhoto.com

Image of Western Conference Champs: Mark A. Hicks

Image of Stu and Jennifer Grimson skating: John Russell

v5.3.2

a

To my sweet children Erin, Hannah, Kristjan, and Jayne.

To my mother and father, who instilled in me the value of hard work: the gateway to a life I never expected to live.

And to the love of my life, Jennifer.

Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best; it removes all that is base. All men are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty.

General George Patton

CONTENTS

foreword
by PAUL KARIYA

When I first met Stu Grimson, he was eating a bowl of oatmeal at the Disneyland Hotel restaurant. It was September 1994 and I was attending my first NHL training camp with the Anaheim Ducks.

Stu was one of the Ducks leaders and when I walked in that morning looking for breakfast, he motioned for me to join him. I remember being struck by how big he was as I sat down. He was an imposing figure, a massive man with huge hands and broad shoulders. But my second impression of Stu was that his personality was 180 degrees different than I thought it would be.

He was one of the leagues toughest enforcers, but that was only a small part of who he was. He had tremendous intelligence, and a wisdom that extended beyond anything we were trying to accomplish on the ice. His off-ice persona is the opposite of the way Stu was on the ice. On the ice, opponents feared Stu. Off the ice, people enjoy his company because he is interesting, witty, and insightful.

From that day forward, Stu and I have become fast friends. I thoroughly enjoy his sense of humour. We had our hair cut at the same place, and Stu once addressed a photo to our hair stylist, Dave Mazza, that read: I trust my hair to anyone that can make Paul Kariya look presentable! Your friend, Stu Grimson.

Stu being Stu is always priceless.

When I played on the Ducks with Stu in 199495 and 19982000, I believe he was the toughest guy in the league. He was such a force; his presence in the lineup could affect what was happening on the ice.

We used to all laugh in Anaheim when the play would get a little dicey on the ice and Stu would just stand on the bench and everything would calm down. He would rise like he was Viktor Tikhonov on the Russian bench, intense and focused. He would stare out over the ice and inevitably our opponents would start behaving themselves. It was fascinating to watch the impact his presence could have.

Very few people were willing to tangle with Stu. Anytime something erupted on the ice, hed come in first with a snide remark and immediately most opponents would back off. He was so intimidating that his glare was as terrifying as his fists.

I remember during my rookie season one game got very heated, so much so that coach Ron Wilson used me at centre with Stu and another tough guy, Todd Ewen, as my wingers.

At no time in my career did I ever have more room on the ice than I had playing with those guys. I remember skating down the ice and feeling completely alone. Im thinking, Where is everybody? Am I in a dream? No one came anywhere near me. Stu and I still laugh about the time we played on a line together. I never felt safer in my life. No tough guy understood his role more than Stu.

In todays NHL, fighting doesnt play the same role it did during my era of playing. But I can tell you that anyone who ever played with Stu understands that we owe him a debt of gratitude for how he helped our teams. Nobody looked after teammates better than Stu did. Stus former teammates all respect the selfless contribution he made.

A favourite Stuism was that he believed his job was to create a safer working environment for my teammates. Just the way he phrased that sentence was classic Stu. Its not surprising that he became a lawyer.

What people didnt realize about Stu was that he owned one of the NHLs hardest shots. He could hammer the puck. It did take him an hour to release it, but it was a howitzer, a bomb. Ducks goalie Guy Hebert really didnt want anything to do with Grimsons shot in practice.

As soon as Stu realized this, all in good fun, he would mercilessly torture Guy with his shot. In warm-up, he would wind up for a big slapshot from the hash marks.

Guy would sometimes just abandon the net. It was a funny scene.

When Stu is around, there are no dull moments. Stu is such a personable guy that he is popular with everyone he has ever met. In the Ducks first couple of seasons, we were known as a very tough team and Stu was the face of the team toughness.

I invited Stu to come my jersey retirement ceremony. We had a gathering at a restaurant, and there was genuine excitement when he walked in. Everyone was so happy to see him because he is always the life of the party.

He was a presence in the dressing room. In Anaheim, he was a leader on and off the ice. Even though he wasnt a top offensive player, he wasnt afraid to speak his mind. When the team wasnt playing well, he always had something to say. And we all listened.

Stu could also lead in a more understated way. He was on the bike, always working out. His dedication to his fitness off the ice was a tremendous example to the rest of us.

I always looked up to Stu for the man and player he was; we all did.

Even though Stu, in his role, didnt log a ton of minutes, he was as popular with teammates and with Anaheim fans as any player on the team. He was one of the best teammates I ever had during my hockey career.

Today, Stu is fifty-four and still a physical specimen. He has shed the extra pounds he needed as a heavyweight NHL fighter in favour of a leaner physique. Because of his long arms, I joke with him that he looks today like a competitive swimmer.