Ben Simon

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United StatesUnited States  Ben Simon Ice hockey player
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

International

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 2nd place, silver 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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 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