Craig Simpson

Craig Andrew Simpson (born February 15, 1967) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger who played 10 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Edmonton Oilers and the Buffalo Sabres.

He is currently the lead colour commentator with Sportsnet for Hockey Night in Canada and Toronto Maple Leafs' Sportsnet regional broadcasts.

As a youth, Simpson played in the 1979 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Oakridge Acres.

Simpson played collegiate hockey for the Michigan State Spartans of the NCAA from 1983–84 to 1984–85.

Simpson skipped the third grade, then took his grade 11 and 12 course load simultaneously allowing him to start college at age 16.

He became the first 16-year old to play Varsity hockey in the United States and actually led the team in scoring as a freshman.

Then in his second year, his draft eligible season, he exploded for 31 goals and 84 points in just 42 games.

This performance made him the number one ranked prospect heading into the 1985 NHL Entry Draft according to Central Scouting.

The Toronto Maple Leafs held the first overall draft pick in the draft, but their pre-draft meeting with Simpson and his family did not go well.

The Globe and Mail quoted Simpson discussing the meeting: "I had a lot of negative feelings about that first meeting and people told me a lot of negative things about Toronto so it was tough going."

Ultimately the Leafs passed on Simpson and selected Wendel Clark with the first overall selection leaving Simpson available for the Penguins at number two.

Simpson was drafted in the first round, second overall, by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft.

As an 18-year old rookie, he scored 11 goals playing right wing (shifting from his natural centre ice position) with veterans Doug Shedden and Terry Ruskowski.

then more than doubled that total in his second year with 26 goals.

His third season saw him slotted on a line with superstar Mario Lemieux and Simpson began to fill the net 13 goals and 26 points in his first 21 games to start the 1987–88 season before a blockbuster trade would take him off the wing of one of hockey's superstars and land on the wing with another.

On November 24, 1987, Simpson, along with Dave Hannan, Chris Joseph and Moe Mantha were shipped to Edmonton in exchange for Paul Coffey, Wayne Van Dorp and Dave Hunter.

Simpson continued to blossom in Edmonton, shifting to left wing and playing on a line with future Hall of Famers Mark Messier and Glenn Anderson.

He scored a career high 56 regular season goals (becoming the first player in NHL history to score 50-goals in a season split between two teams; Pittsburgh and Edmonton) during the 1987–88 season, and 13 more in the playoffs.

He won two Stanley Cups with the Oilers, in 1988 and 1990.

In the spring of 1990, he led the playoffs with 16 goals (including the Cup winning goal) in 22-games and tied with teammate Mark Messier for the points lead with 31.

The Oilers had another playoff run in 1992, advancing to the Conference Finals, but Simpson was sidelined in game one of the playoffs after a Larry Robinson check separated his shoulder.

In 1992–93, he missed games with a strained back which was the beginning of back issues that would plague him the rest of his career.

He was in an out of the Oilers lineup that year as the back issues would flare up and force him to the sidelines on multiple occasions before a protruding disc in his back ended his season.

That summer, Simpson became a free agent and turned down the Oilers offer of the same salary he had previously made.

On July 16, 1993, the San Jose Sharks presented Simpson with an offer sheet which he accepted, joining the club as a free agent.

However, the Oilers protested the deal that would see Simpson earn just $130,000 per season (the NHL minimum) while receiving a sizeable $1,790,000 "reporting bonus" for merely showing up at Sharks training camp.

The unique structure of the deal would see the Oilers receive no compensation for losing Simpson.

Upon further review, the league found that the Sharks offer was illegally structured and invalidated the contract.

When rumours began to swirl that the Buffalo Sabres were also preparing an offer sheet for Simpson, the Oilers instead traded him there.

Simpson was traded to the Sabres in exchange for Jozef Cierny.

In Buffalo, Simpson was slotted onto a line with Sabres stars Pat LaFontaine and Alexander Mogilny, and he found the back of the net in his first game with them, but it didn't take long for his back issues to flare up again.

Simpson suffered a serious back injury in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on December 1, 1993.

He returned on March 8 but re-aggravated the injury and missed the rest of the season and the playoffs.

He was limited to just 22 games that year and the following year suited up for just 24 more before it became clear that the issues with his back would make playing at the NHL level impossible.

"The last three years in the National Hockey League for me were probably as painful a hell as I've lived."

At just age 28, he retired as a player with Buffalo buying out the final year of his contract.

He finished with 497 career NHL points.

Arguably one of the most proficient snipers in NHL history, he holds the record for best career shooting percentage (minimum 800 shots) with 23.66%.

He also holds the record for best career playoff shooting percentage (minimum 80 shots) with 33.65%, well ahead of second place Jake Guentzel.

His 13th and final goal of that post season was set up by Wayne Gretzky and would prove to be the final point recorded by The Great One in an Oiler sweater.