He was known as "The Grim Reaper."
For 12 season, Stu Grimson lived up to the moniker as one of the most feared fighters in the NHL. He played 729 games, and amassed 2,113 penalty minutes, most of them earned after pounding the face of an opponent.
A typical season for him: In 2000-01, Grimson had 235 penalty minutes with 19 fights. That he only played six minutes per game and contributed just five points in 72 of them was immaterial, because one did not sign The Grim Reaper for his offensive acumen. His role was seen as a necessity, because fighting in the NHL was prevalent: Over 38 percent of all NHL games had a fight (469 games) and there were 0.56 fights per game -- the kind of thing that…
