Nick Kypreos

Nick Kypreos
Kypreos at the 2010 Winter Olympics
Born (1966-06-04) June 4, 1966 (age 58)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 211 lb (96 kg; 15 st 1 lb)
Position Left wing
Shot Left
Played for Washington Capitals
Hartford Whalers
New York Rangers
Toronto Maple Leafs
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 1986–1997

Nikos "Nick" Kypreos (born June 4, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played eight seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Hartford Whalers, Washington Capitals, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs. He is currently a hockey analyst on the Sportsnet cable television network in Canada.

Playing career

Of Greek descent, Kypreos was born in Toronto, Ontario. As a youth, he played in the 1979 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Wexford, Toronto.[1] He was an effective goal scorer in juniors with the North Bay Centennials of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). He was a prolific scorer and finished second in the league for goals scored, with 62, in the 1985–86 OHL season, leading the top scoring Centennials to second place in the regular season.[citation needed]

Kypreos struggled to score at the NHL level and immediately became known as an enforcer, a role he maintained throughout his pro career. He was never drafted by an NHL team, but was signed as a free agent by the Philadelphia Flyers on the eve of his second junior season. However, his NHL career began with the Washington Capitals. His best NHL season came in 1992–93 while a member of the Hartford Whalers, when he scored a career-best 17 goals while earning 325 penalty minutes, which was the fourth-highest penalty minute total in the league that season.[citation needed]

In 1994, Kypreos was a member of the Stanley Cup champion New York Rangers.

He made his final NHL stop with his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs. As a Maple Leaf, his career ended as the result of a concussion sustained in a fight with the Rangers' Ryan VandenBussche in a pre-season game on September 15, 1997 when his face hit the ice after he was punched unconscious. After the injury, Kypreos suffered from post-concussion syndrome and was forced to retire.[2][3] He finished his NHL career with 46 goals, 44 assists, 90 points, and 1,210 penalty minutes in 442 regular season games.[4]

Television career

Since retiring as a player, Kypreos had gone on to serve as a hockey analyst for Sportsnet in Canada, as the co-host of Hockey Central (first with Darren Dreger and later with Daren Millard). He also co-hosts Hockey Central at Noon on The Fan 590 in Toronto and simulcast on Sportsnet as of 2018. Hockey Central at Noon is hosted by Jeff Marek.[5] The show was previously co-hosted by Daren Millard and Bill Berg until the fall of 2008, when Berg left and was replaced by Mike Brophy. Starting in the fall of 2009, former NHL coach and executive Doug MacLean was also added to the program as an analyst. His role was expanded in October 2014 when he became part of the new but revamped Hockey Night in Canada as an analyst after its parent, Rogers Media acquired the sole national television rights to the NHL in November 2013, until he departed in 2019.

Kypreos has also appeared on TSN as an analyst, notably when Hockey Canada announced the Canadian national team for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Kypreos appeared as a pro hockey player, acting in a 1996 episode of the HBO program Arli$$ entitled "What About the Fans?".[6]

Awards and achievements

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1983–84 Dixie Beehives OPJHL 9 3 7 10 12 — — — — —
1983–84 Kitchener Rangers OHL 4 2 0 2 0 — — — — —
1983–84 North Bay Centennials OHL 47 10 11 21 36 4 3 2 5 9
1984–85 North Bay Centennials OHL 64 41 36 77 71 8 2 2 4 15
1985–86 North Bay Centennials OHL 64 62 35 97 112 — — — — —
1986–87 Hershey Bears AHL 10 0 1 1 4 — — — — —
1986–87 North Bay Centennials OHL 46 49 41 90 54 24 11 5 16 78
1987–88 Hershey Bears AHL 71 24 20 44 101 12 0 2 2 17
1988–89 Hershey Bears AHL 28 12 15 27 19 12 4 5 9 11
1989–90 Baltimore Skipjacks AHL 14 6 5 11 6 7 4 1 5 17
1989–90 Washington Capitals NHL 31 5 4 9 82 7 1 0 1 15
1990–91 Washington Capitals NHL 79 9 9 18 196 9 0 1 1 38
1991–92 Washington Capitals NHL 65 4 6 10 206 — — — — —
1992–93 Hartford Whalers NHL 75 17 10 27 325 — — — — —
1993–94 Hartford Whalers NHL 10 0 0 0 37 — — — — —
1993–94 New York Rangers NHL 46 3 5 8 102 3 0 0 0 2
1994–95 New York Rangers NHL 40 1 3 4 93 10 0 2 2 6
1995–96 New York Rangers NHL 42 3 4 7 77 — — — — —
1995–96 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 19 1 1 2 30 5 0 0 0 4
1996–97 St. John's Maple Leafs AHL 4 0 0 0 4 — — — — —
1996–97 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 35 3 2 5 62 — — — — —
NHL totals 442 46 44 90 1210 34 1 3 4 65

References

  1. ^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Retrieved 2019-01-15.
  2. ^ "Kypreos, VandenBussche on concussions". sportsnet.ca. March 25, 2011. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  3. ^ Campbell, Morgan (March 10, 2011). "A history of violence". The Toronto Star. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  4. ^ "Drawing the Line on Hockey Violence". McLean's Magazine. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2007-05-22.
  5. ^ "Hockey Central - Sportsnet.ca".
  6. ^ "Arli$$: What About the Fans?". film.com. Retrieved 2009-03-04.