| Todd Ewen | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | March 22, 1966 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada |
| Died | September 19, 2015 (aged 49) Wildwood, Missouri |
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Weight | 230 lb (104 kg; 16 st 6 lb) |
| Position | Right Wing |
| Shoots | Right |
| Played for | St. Louis Blues Montreal Canadiens Mighty Ducks of Anaheim San Jose Sharks |
| NHL Draft | 168th overall, 1984 Edmonton Oilers |
| Playing career | 1986–1997 |
Todd Ewen (born Todd Gordon Ewen on March 22, 1966) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played for several teams in the National Hockey League (NHL).
As a right wing, he was primarily known as an enforcer, playing for the St. Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and San Jose Sharks.
Todd retired with 1,911 penalty minutes, putting him 58th for all time career and also won the Stanley Cup in 1993 with the Montreal Canadiens.
Contents
Playing Career[]
Junior career[]
Todd started his junior career with the Kamloops Junior Oilers at the age of 16. He began the season in Kamloops but was traded to the Nanaimo Lakers at the end of the season. That was the last year that the team was in Nanaimo and they moved back to New Westminster.
He played three years for the New Westminster Bruins of the WHL, where he was awarded the most improved player by the WHL and served as the assistant captain.
At New Westminster, Todd was teammates with future NHL playes Mark Recchi, Bill Ranford, Cliff Ronning and Brian Noonan, as well as with his younger brother Dean, who would go on to be a career minor league enforcer.
In his last year with the Bruins, Todd had 6 points and over 200 minutes in penalties at Christmas. Oilers head scout Barry Fraser flew in to see his performance. He instructed Ewen to start playing hockey as well as the aggressive style. He ended up with 52 points and 289 minutes in penalties.
When the season ended with New Westminster, he was loaned to the Maine Mariners for the playoffs. He centered a line which had Archie Henderson & Mitch Wilson as line mates.
Todd was selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the eighth round, 168th overall, of the 1984 draft. Some of the other notable players in the organization at that time were Cliff Ronning, Craig Berube, Bill Ranford, Link Gaetz, Alan May, Brent Hughes, Pokey Reddick and Brian Noonan.
The team was coached by junior hockey coach Ernie "Punch" Mclean, most known for the teams that he assembled and inducted in the British Columbia Hockey Hall of Fame.
Professional career[]
Todd never played for the Oilers, but he was called up to the team for the 1985 Stanley Cup playoffs. At the beginning of the next season, he was assigned to the minors in Nova Scotia where he had a run-in with coach Larry Kish. He was traded to the St. Louis Blues.
He played parts of four years with St. Louis and had one of his most memorable fights with Bob Probert. In his second fight in the NHL, he knocked out Probert with one punch. This would be the first of several battles with Probert.
He was traded to the Montreal Canadiens in 1990 in their attempt to add an enforcer to the team for a Stanley Cup run. He played four seasons for Montreal which culminated in a Stanley Cup championship in 1993.
Before the start of the 1994 season, he was traded to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim after the expansion draft and was the first trade made by the Mighty Ducks along with Patrick Carnback.
Todd spent the next three seasons protecting the team's star players, Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne along with his partner, Stu Grimson.
During this time with the Mighty Ducks, Ewen served as the assistant captain for all three years. The Mighty Ducks achieved a record for the winningest expansion franchise team in NHL history.
After three years with the Mighty Ducks, he joined the San Jose Sharks as a free agent in 1996–97 (his last season in the NHL).
Todd's career ended with double knee surgery. He attended camp with the Phoenix Coyotes, but he officially retired after suffering a knee injury in camp.
Career Statistics[]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1982–83 | Kamloops Junior Oilers | WHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1982-82 | Vernon Lakers | BCJHL | 42 | 14 | 10 | 24 | 178 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1983–84 | New Westminster Bruins | WHL | 68 | 11 | 13 | 24 | 176 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 15 | ||
| 1984–85 | New Westminster Bruins | WHL | 56 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 304 | 10 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 60 | ||
| 1985–86 | New Westminster Bruins | WHL | 60 | 28 | 24 | 52 | 289 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1985–86 | Maine Mariners | AHL | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 1986–87 | Peoria Rivermen | IHL | 16 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 110 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1986–87 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 23 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 84 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | ||
| 1987–88 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 64 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 227 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | ||
| 1988–89 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 34 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 171 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | ||
| 1989–90 | Peoria Rivermen | IHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1989–90 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1989-90 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 41 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 158 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 1990–91 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 28 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 128 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 46 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 130 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| 1992–93 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 75 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 193 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1993–94 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | NHL | 79 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 272 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | NHL | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | NHL | 53 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 285 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 51 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 162 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 518 | 36 | 40 | 76 | 1911 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 87 | ||||
Coaching Career[]
Todd was involved in coaching after his retirement. Having moved back to St. Louis, he became involved in the local Chesterfield Hockey Association and was the coaching director for three years.
He also was involved in doing coaching seminars with USA hockey for levels 1-3 along with other St Louis Blues alumni Rob Ramage, Mike Zuke and Rick Zombo.
During Todd's tenure with Chesterfield hockey, he was the head coach for every level from mini-mite to midget major central states. The opportunity to get involved in high school hockey was a pleasant change and he moved to Lafayette High School for three years.
In 2008, Todd also began serving as the assistant coach for the Saint Louis University Billikens Men's Ice Hockey Club and took over the reins in 2009 as the head coach. He led the team to a 2011 MACHA Gold Championship (the first in club history) and a Central Regional Qualifier.
Post-Playing Career[]
After leaving his professional career, Todd made several coaching videos with Championship Productions on "How to Buy Equipment for Your Child", "Break out Basics" and "Checking".
He also was the coaching director for the Chesterfield Hockey Association, Lafayette Varsity head coach and the assistant coach for Saint Louis University Billikens.
Death[]
On September 19, 2015, Todd suddenly died at the age of 49 and the next day, numerous media outlets reported Ewen committed suicide via self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
His family would later report that he had allegedly been suffering from depression for several years.
On February 10, 2016, it was reported by TSN that Todd's results from a chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) examination performed by Lili-Naz Hazrati (a researcher in Toronto with the Canadian Sports Concussion Project) came back negative and that his widow had been given the results the month before.
Accolades[]
- 1993 Stanley Cup Championship (Montreal)
