Simon To Apologize To Grier In Person
Washington Capitals left wing Chris Simon, who likely will receive an extended suspension today from the NHL for a racial epithet he made against Edmonton Oilers forward Mike Grier, flew to Toronto Monday night to apologize to Grier personally.
Simon and general manager George McPhee were scheduled to meet with Grier after the Oilers played the Sabres in Buffalo, an Edmonton spokesman said. The Oilers, who are on a six-game road trip, bused to Toronto after the game, where Simon and McPhee planned to meet them.
Simon and McPhee will then fly to New York to attend a 1 p.m. hearing today with NHL senior vice president Brian Burke. Burke, who suspended Simon on Sunday, will determine additional punishment for the incident, in which Simon aimed at Grier a two-word phrase combining an obscenity with a racial epithet after Saturday’s game between their teams.
Simon, born in Wawa, Canada, is a Native American of the Ojibwa Tribe. Grier, born in Detroit, is black.
As for Simon’s punishment, Grier said he was comfortable with “letting the league handle it. Whatever the league feels is right is fine with me.”
On the ice
Jason Dawe scored three goals in a little more than 6 minutes of the second period Monday, rallying Buffalo from three goals down and giving the Sabres a 4-4 tie with the Edmonton Oilers in Buffalo, N.Y.
At Uniondale, N.Y., Martin Brodeur stopped 28 shots for his seventh straight win as the New Jersey Devils beat the New York Islanders 3-1.