Stu Grimson was born on May 20, 1965 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The huge 6'5" left winger played his junior hockey with the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in the 10th round, 186th overall in the 1983 NHL entry draft. He did not sign with the Red Wings and instead played a couple of years University of Manitoba of the CIAU. Two years later, the tough guy was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the 7th round, 143th overall.
After playing a couple of seasons in the minors, he got his first taste of the big leagues in 1988 with the Flames. In 1990 he was claimed on waivers by the Chicago Blackhawks. He spent a couple of years with a tough Hawks team that included Mike Peluso, Dave Manson and Chris Chelios. Stu Grimson's dominating fighting style got him the nickname "Grim Reaper". In the 1993 NHL expansion draft, the Blackhawks didn't protect Grimson and he was picked up by the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Stu continued to play his enforcer role even as he was on the move again, this time traded by the Mighty Ducks with Mark Farmer and a draft choice to the Detroit Red Wings for Mike Sillinger and Jason York.
As had been the case in the past, after a couple of years with the Red Wings, Grimson was back on the move. This time he was claimed off waivers by the Hartford Whalers and transferred to the Carolina Hurricanes when the team moved to Raleigh, North Carolina.
In the summer of 1998 he was dispatched back to the west coast along with Kevin Haller to Anaheim Mighty Ducks for Dave Karpa and a draft pick. After a stop in Los Angeles with the Kings in 2000-01, Stu Grimson ended his pro-hockey career with the Nashville Predators in 2002. His career saw him play 729 regular season NHL games and rack up an impressive 2113 penalty minutes.
