Three retired NHL tough guys shared stories from their professional hockey careers during the Power Dodge Estevan Bruins annual Sportsman’s Dinner Thursday night at the Power Dodge Curling Centre.
Nearly 250 people turned out to listen to Jim McKenzie, Stu Grimson and Reid Simpson reflect on their time in hockey. They entertained the crowd as they discussed the people they fought, some of the fights they had with each other, the coaches they played for and some of their favourite stories from road trips.
McKenzie was the hometown favourite, thanks to his local roots. He was born in Gull Lake but raised in Carlyle and Estevan. He said it’s always great to be home.
But Grimson and Simpson have local connections as well. Grimson’s uncle Milton has been living in Estevan since the 1970s, while Simpson played games in Estevan while he was a member of his hometown Flin Flon Bombers.
“I started playing for Flin Flon because I lived there when I was 14. We couldn’t get anyone to come there and play.”
It was a surreal feeling as a 14-year-old, coming to Estevan and facing 20-year-old opponents who already had full beards.
“Estevan was always one of those teams you never wanted to go through,” said Simpson.
Grimson noted that the three of them have teamed up on a number of different occasions to support various causes. They have even entertained at comedy clubs.
“We have found over the years that the folks that love the game, and especially folks north of the border in the small towns in Canada, they love to hear the backstories on what went on when guys like us locked horns, so it kind of grew out of that,” said Grimson.
McKenzie said it’s not the fighting that’s fun, but it’s the stories behind the fights that people enjoy.
“We’ve all fought each other at some point,” said McKenzie, who pointed out that he tussled with Simpson back when they were in junior hockey.
“Stu and I ended up being teammates after we fought each other a bunch of times, in previous cities we played in. But the guys you get along with are the guys you fought. They’re the guys you have something in common with.”
Each of the retired pugilists shared stories of Dave Brown, the towering enforcer for the Edmonton Oilers and the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1980s and early 1990s, and the late Bob Probert, who was widely regarded as the top fighter in the league for many years.
Grimson pointed out that he, McKenzie and Simpson didn’t have the offensive skills to play in the NHL, but they found a way a carve out a niche in the best league in the world.
And McKenzie added that it’s not his first NHL game that he remembers, but it’s his first fight. He was trying to make a name for himself and find his way onto the scoresheet, since he wasn’t a big fighter in junior.
“It’s been the same joke forever, is you think the worst thing that can happen in a fight is you get beat up, but actually the worst thing that can happen is you win, because now you have to go back out and do it again, because people think you’re good at it.”
Simpson, meanwhile, said that it was a thrill to be drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers, whose general manager was Bobby Clarke, also from Flin Flon. He was quick to point out that he was drafted one spot ahead of McKenzie.
“I went down to the table, and Bobby Clarke was there, and I’m thinking ‘Oh my God, I got drafted by Philadelphia because of Bobby Clarke,’ and he looks at me and says ‘Are you Reid Simpson from Flin Flon?’ And I said ‘yeah, yeah,’ and he said ‘Oh my God, I know your parents.’”
Former Saskatchewan Roughriders play-by-play announcer Rod Pedersen was the MC for the evening.
The event also featured a live auction that raised more than $15,000, and a silent auction.
Money raised will be directed towards the Bruins operations.
