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Former LA Kings, Ducks Enforcer Stu Grimson Discusses His Book “The Grim Reaper”

(Photo credit: Nick Brancaccio/The Windsor Star)

He was one of the most intimidating fighters in the NHL during the 1990’s, and standing at a towering 6-foot-6 and 230-plus pounds certainly didn’t help matters for his opponents.

Stu Grimson made a significant mark on the NHL over the course of his 14-year career, establishing himself as a fighter but also as a reliable team representative for the NHLPA, a broadcaster and an analyst.

In October 2019, Grimson released his book “The Grim Reaper: The Life and Career of a Reluctant Warrior”, where he discusses the trials and tribulations of his life growing up, making it to the NHL and his family, to name just three topics.

I recently had the privilege of speaking with Grimson about his book and what motivated him most to write it.

“I had actually had someone in my ear who ended up being my agent on this project,” Grimson said. “His name is Brian Wood. Brian had been in my ear since 2010, trying to encourage me to write a book. He’s the one that raised it to me initially all those years ago and we maintained contact over the years, and he’s been very patiently kind of prodding me over the years.”

For any reluctance he had, though, Grimson was able to get past it thanks to the encouragement of a special somebody in his life.

Photo credit: Getty Images

“It was my wife, Jennifer, who convinced me that my story is an interesting one, that it would have to appeal to folks who follow the game and even folks who don’t follow our game. So, that was certainly a factor,” explained Grimson. “Also, I think personally, it came down to the following: When you take a very unique and winding path to get to a place in the NHL, and when you get to the NHL, you play a unique and distinct role. Then, having left the game and gone on to do some things that maybe other players do not.”

While he did have a successful career in hockey, it was Grimson’s journey as a human being that helped convince him that his story is worth sharing.

“The point I’m making is that I’ve taken a different– a winding path and along the way, you learn a lot of things,” he continued. “I think whether you’re a professional athlete or somebody that works in a very different walk of life or area of business, the lessons I’ve learned over time can have application in a lot of different areas. So, the lessons I’m able to communicate and, as my wife Jennifer communicates to me, there’s appeal for this story for those reasons why I decided to write the book ultimately.”

Grimson also shared his thoughts on Kevin Allen, the longtime national hockey writer for USA Today, who helped write his book.

“I had always admired Kevin’s work as a writer,” Grimson stressed. “I think just in terms of longevity and quality of the work, anybody that covers hockey for a living produces, I’ve always admired Kevin and I was really thrilled to work with him. Just having gone through the creative and writing process with him, I gained a whole lot of respect for Kevin as a professional. So, it was an experience I would gladly go through again having come out the other side of it.

Allen was with USA Today from 1986 to 2019 and also served as the president of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association and was also the 2014 recipient of the prestigious Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award.

Nature vs. Nurture

Through it all, one of the most fascinating chapters in Grimson’s book is where he discusses meeting his biological parents as an adult.

En route to making this decision, Grimson takes the reader through his process of mulling over the pros and cons of this, why he ultimately agreed to meet his biological parents and what he took from the experience.

“It was really an interesting experience for me to meet my biological parents,” Grimson reflected. “And specifically, my biological father because, like anybody, I suppose I’ve wrestled with that nature-versus-nurture question myself and I’ve always believed that my circumstances and my path in my life have turned out in large part due to the influence of my parents, the folks I’ve spent my entire life with, and I still believe that to be true.

“I think at the end of the day, the lesson I’ve learned is that I’m somewhat astonished at how much my biology, my physical ancestry has contributed to the person I became in life. When you think about my physical makeup, my desire to play professional sports at a high level, then my desire to go on and do my post-graduate work: all those have some connection, some origin in my birth father’s. So, I think at the end of the day, I was astonished to learn how much the nature role played in my life at the same time.”

The Mentors

“The Grim Reaper” covers many of Grimson’s mentors. Of course, given the many hats the former enforcer has worn, it will be near impossible to list them all. Grimson did discuss with me, though, those he learned from as a broadcaster and later as a lawyer.

Tom Callahan
(Photo credit: Chris Hook/Tucson Roadrunners)

“I have a lot of– maybe too many to name — a lot of influences that have shaped my broadcasting career,” he began. “I had the pleasure of working with a guy named Tom Callahan. When I first broke into radio broadcasting, he was my play-by-play partner on the Predators’ radio broadcast. I had never done much broadcasting work before, so working with Tom was a great experience.

“I can also go back to my minor-league days when I played for the [IHL‘s] Salt Lake Golden Eagles back in the late 80’s. I was injured for half the season and our radio broadcaster was a gentleman by the name of Mike Barack and he invited me to join him on the broadcast for the Golden Eagles. So, that, too, was a really good experience for me and it really helped me shape my broadcasting career.”

As for his career path as a lawyer, Grimson looked to other former NHLers.

“I looked at the legal side of the path I took and I look back at guys like George McPhee, Mike Liut and Neil Sheehy — other former players that went on to earn law degrees,” he continued. “Then [McPhee and Liut] went on to have exciting and meaningful careers in hockey after they retired from playing the game. So, guys like Liut, McPhee and Sheehy were influential as well.”

Life of a Mighty Duck

In 1993, after three years with the Chicago Blackhawks, Grimson found a new home in one of the NHL’s newest markets. Suddenly, the Los Angeles Kings weren’t the only team in southern California anymore as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim were born.

Photo credit: Scott Levy/Getty Images

Claimed in the expansion draft by the Mighty Ducks in June of ’93, Grimson began the newest chapter of his career. The former tough guy was certainly excited about this new opportunity.

“It was really interesting,” Grimson noted. “I noticed in our first year that the Mighty Ducks were in existence (1993-94), the fanbase was very devout. They loved that they had another hockey team in southern California and they loved that Orange County, which had this great rivalry with L.A. County, now had a counterpart, their own entry in the rivalry as far as the Kings were concerned. So, there was great interest around the game.”

The player-turned-lawyer admitted that there was a process when it came to new fans in Anaheim learning the game. Those fans, however, were drawn to hockey thanks in part to an aspect Grimson just happened to excel in.

“I will say that in the early going, [Ducks fans] weren’t that terribly sophisticated about it,” Grimson continued. “They got that goals were exciting, of course, the big stage was exciting and I suppose this is in part to why I endeared myself to the fans of southern California, like many fanbases and markets, they loved the fights. That was an identifiable, easy thing to understand.” 

Of course, there was more to it than that.

“I was really impressed over time as the game was there longer and longer and the fanbase became more educated,” the former Mighty Duck continued. “They really started to pick up the subtle aspects of the game: important moments like killing a penalty, especially late if your club was competitive in that game. It was really interesting to see the fanbase mature and evolve over time and really, I think what astonished me as much as anything was that it didn’t take that long for them to become educated just in terms of their knowledge of the game. So, that was interesting.”

Born on May 20, 1965 in Vancouver, B.C., Stu Grimson was just as tough a fighter entering hockey than he was during his playing career.

While not in the same sense as his on-ice tussles, Grimson fought his way to crack a roster spot with the WHL‘s Regina Pats. His introduction to the NHL, though, was a difficult one, at best.

Drafted in the 10th round of the 1983 Draft, Grimson was fortunate enough to be selected in a transitional class for the then-hapless Detroit Red Wings along with fellow tough guys Bob Probert and Joey Kocur in addition to the franchise’s future cornerstone, Steve Yzerman.

Unable to sign a contract with the Red Wings, Grimson re-entered the draft in 1985, being taken in the seventh round by the Calgary Flames. Unfortunately, the big man had doubts about his role and his future in hockey, walking away from the game.

It didn’t last.

While he would only play a few times for the Flames, Grimson would go on to have a solid career in the NHL, playing for the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes, Nashville Predators in addition to the aforementioned Blackhawks, Red Wings (later on) and Mighty Ducks while also spending one very special season with the Los Angeles Kings. More on that later, though.

While significant, Stu Grimson’s playing career only scratches the surface of his DNA.

From his role with the NHLPA to his broadcasting career to his time, albeit unofficially, as a coach alongside the legendary Scotty Bowman, Grimson has played a myriad of roles professionally and also personally as a loving husband to Jennifer, father to Erin, Kristjan, Hannah and Jayne and grandfather to Atticus Roy and Daphne Wren. Through it all, though, the 54-year-old continues to keep busy. In fact, these days, you can find him practicing law while also serving as an analyst for the NHL Network.

From being a reluctant warrior in hockey to embarking on a career as a lawyer after stepping away from the game due to concussions, Stu Grimson has shown that with hard work and dedication, you can accomplish anything no matter what.

“The Grim Reaper” shows us this and so much more, and I strongly recommend reading this right away.

You will be glad you did.

 

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