Ben Simon
Date of birth | June 14, 1978 |
place of birth | Shaker Heights , Ohio , USA |
size | 183 cm |
Weight | 89 kg |
position | center |
Shot hand | Left |
Draft | |
NHL Entry Draft |
1997 , 5th round, 110th position Chicago Blackhawks |
Career stations | |
1992-1995 | Shaker Heights High School |
1995-1996 | Cleveland Junior Barons |
1996-2000 | University of Notre Dame |
2000-2001 | Orlando Solar Bears |
2001-2003 | Chicago Wolves |
2003 | Milwaukee Admirals |
2003-2005 | Chicago Wolves |
2005-2007 | Syracuse crunch |
2007 | Grand Rapids Griffins |
2007-2008 | Springfield Falcons |
2008-2009 | Iserlohn Roosters |
2009-2010 |
Kalamazoo Wings Toronto Marlies |
2010-2011 | Sheffield Steelers |
Benjamin Clarke Simon (born June 14, 1978 in Shaker Heights , Ohio ) is a former American ice hockey player and current coach who played 81 games for the Atlanta Thrashers and Columbus Blue Jackets in the course of his active career between 1996 and 2011, among others of the National Hockey League on the position of the center . However, Simon was mainly active in the American Hockey League , where he has been the head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins since June 2018 .
Career
During his time in high school , Simon won his first title at the Ohio High School Athletic Association State Championships , the high school championship of the state of Ohio , and was one of the best players on his team, Shaker Heights High School . In three seasons, the center scored 251 points in 74 games and eventually moved to the Cleveland Junior Barons in the North American Junior Hockey League , where he was named to the First All-Star Team and was named Rookie of the Year .
From 1996 Simon studied at the University of Notre Dame and was a member of the ice hockey team, which played in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association , a league in the game operations of the NCAA . In addition, the attacker became junior runner-up with the US team at the 1997 Junior World Cup in Switzerland . After the season, Simon was finally selected in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks in the fifth round in 110th place.
However, the American first finished his studies before signing his first professional contract with the Atlanta Thrashers in 2000 , which had since acquired his rights from the Black Hawks. Simon first played in the farm team , the Orlando Solar Bears in the International Hockey League , where he won the Turner Cup in his first season . After the IHL had to stop playing, a large part of the team moved to the Chicago Wolves in the American Hockey League and again won the championship in the 2001/02 season, which is awarded the Calder Cup . In addition, Simon played his first six games in the National Hockey League for the Atlanta Thrashers. The next year he came to ten NHL games in which the center forward could book an assist . Simon spent most of the season back in the AHL and finally signed in the summer of 2003 a contract as a free agent with the Nashville Predators , who initially used him with the Milwaukee Admirals . In December, the attacker and Tomáš Klouček were transferred back to his old team in Atlanta in exchange for Simon Gamache and Kirill Safronow . There he spent the rest of the season in the NHL and came up with three goals in 52 games. In the 2004/05 season , however, Simon played again in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves and reached the play-off finals. In the summer of 2005, the Columbus Blue Jackets took the American under contract, but he was mainly used in the farm team, the Syracuse Crunch and only 13 times in the NHL. 2006/07 Simon played first in Syracuse and moved to the Grand Rapids Griffins during the season . The 2007/08 season was spent entirely by the left shooter with the Springfield Falcons .
For the 2008/09 season , Simon decided to move to Europe , where he signed an annual contract with the Iserlohn Roosters from the German Ice Hockey League . Here the center met with Brad Tapper and Norm Maracle on former teammates from the IHL and AHL, who campaigned for his commitment to the Roosters. After a strong start, Simon's performance became less constant, so that he did not receive a new contract offer.
In November 2009, Simon returned to North America and signed a contract with the Kalamazoo Wings in the ECHL . After strong performances with 13 points from 18 games, he was taken on loan by the Toronto Marlies two months later . There, however, he did not manage to build on these performances and Simon returned to the Wings at the end of the season to strengthen the team in the playoffs. In July 2010 he was hired as a player-coach by the Sheffield Steelers from the Elite Ice Hockey League . From August 2011 until spring 2013 he worked as an assistant coach for the Rockford IceHogs in the American Hockey League. Then Simon worked for a year as head coach of the Cincinnati Cyclones in the ECHL. After a one-year engagement at his ex-club Toronto Marlies in the position of assistant, he worked in the same position for league rivals Grand Rapids Griffins until the summer of 2018, before he was promoted to their head coach.
Achievements and Awards
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International
- 1997 silver medal at the Junior World Championship
Career statistics
Regular season | Play-offs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
season | team | league | Sp | T | V | Pt | SM | Sp | T | V | Pt | SM | ||
1992/93 | Shaker Heights High School | High-OH | 25th | 15th | 21st | 36 | ||||||||
1993/94 | Shaker Heights High School | High-OH | 24 | 45 | 41 | 86 | ||||||||
1994/95 | Shaker Heights High School | High-OH | 25th | 61 | 68 | 129 | ||||||||
1995/96 | Cleveland Junior Barons | NAJHL | 45 | 38 | 33 | 71 | 5 | 7th | 13 | 20th | ||||
1996/97 | University of Notre Dame | NCAA | 30th | 4th | 15th | 19th | 79 | |||||||
1997/98 | University of Notre Dame | NCAA | 37 | 9 | 28 | 37 | 91 | |||||||
1998/99 | University of Notre Dame | NCAA | 37 | 18th | 24 | 42 | 65 | |||||||
1999/00 | University of Notre Dame | NCAA | 40 | 13 | 19th | 32 | 53 | |||||||
2000/01 | Orlando Solar Bears | IHL | 77 | 8th | 12 | 20th | 47 | 16 | 6th | 5 | 11 | 20th | ||
2001/02 | Atlanta Thrashers | NHL | 6th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6th | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2001/02 | Chicago Wolves | AHL | 74 | 11 | 23 | 34 | 56 | 25th | 2 | 3 | 5 | 24 | ||
2002/03 | Atlanta Thrashers | NHL | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2002/03 | Chicago Wolves | AHL | 69 | 15th | 17th | 32 | 78 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6th | ||
2003/04 | Milwaukee Admirals | AHL | 18th | 1 | 3 | 4th | 6th | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2003/04 | Atlanta Thrashers | NHL | 52 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 28 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2004/05 | Chicago Wolves | AHL | 53 | 11 | 10 | 21st | 58 | 18th | 1 | 5 | 6th | 44 | ||
2005/06 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4th | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2005/06 | Syracuse crunch | AHL | 66 | 13 | 24 | 37 | 88 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
2006/07 | Syracuse crunch | AHL | 56 | 9 | 12 | 21st | 77 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2006/07 | Grand Rapids Griffins | AHL | 21st | 4th | 5 | 9 | 28 | 7th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | ||
2007/08 | Springfield Falcons | AHL | 80 | 12 | 10 | 22nd | 88 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2008/09 | Iserlohn Roosters | DEL | 51 | 5 | 10 | 15th | 64 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2009/10 | Kalamazoo Wings | ECHL | 18th | 4th | 9 | 13 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 14th | ||
2009/10 | Toronto Marlies | AHL | 44 | 2 | 6th | 8th | 51 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2010/11 | Sheffield Steelers | EIHL | 62 | 27 | 39 | 66 | 83 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
High school overall | 74 | 121 | 130 | 251 | ||||||||||
NCAA overall | 144 | 44 | 86 | 130 | 288 | |||||||||
AHL total | 437 | 76 | 104 | 180 | 484 | 62 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 85 | ||||
NHL overall | 81 | 3 | 1 | 4th | 47 | - | - | - | - | - |
International
Represented the USA at:
year | team | event | result | Sp | T | V | Pt | SM | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1997 | United States | June World Cup | 6th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4th | ||
1998 | United States | June World Cup | 5th place | 7th | 1 | 3 | 4th | 8th | |
Juniors overall | 13 | 1 | 3 | 4th | 12 |
( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; 1 play-downs / relegation )
Web links
- Ben Simon at legendsofhockey.net (English)
- Ben Simon at eliteprospects.com (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ news.bbc.co.uk, Sheffield Steelers appoint Ben Simon as player-coach
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Simon, Ben |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Simon, Benjamin Clarke (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American ice hockey player and coach |
DATE OF BIRTH | June 14, 1978 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Shaker Heights , Ohio |