Després comes full circle on global hockey journey

Simon Després was somewhere between Montreal and Fort Wayne, Indiana, when he pulled off the road and joined a Zoom call.

It seemed an appropriate setting for a hockey player who has spent much of the past decade in motion.

Després, 35, is headed back to North America this season after signing with the Fort Wayne Komets of the ECHL, the latest stop in a career that once appeared destined to be spent almost entirely in the NHL.

A first-round pick (No. 30) by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2009 NHL Draft, Després played parts of six NHL seasons with the Penguins and Anaheim Ducks from 2011-16. He had 43 points (six goals, 37 assists) in 193 regular-season games and seven points (one goal, six assists) in 29 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

By the spring of 2015, after being traded from Pittsburgh to Anaheim in March, the 6-foot-4 defenseman was playing significant minutes for a Ducks team that reached Game 7 of the Western Conference Final.

In October 2015, he signed a five-year contract with the Ducks. He looked like he had found an NHL home.

“Absolutely,” he said. “I got the chance to play in the Stanley Cup playoffs with Anaheim and play the big minutes for a defenseman against some of the top players in the world at the time. I did fairly OK and definitely thought that was going to be my future for a long time.”

But in his first game of the 2016-17 season, he sustained a head injury and never played another game for the Ducks. Anaheim eventually bought out his contract in June 2017.

Still, he never gave up the dream of playing, finding encouragement in watching other NHL players return from significant head injuries.

“You look at players that are still playing that missed a full season of hockey like Sidney Crosby or Kris Letang or David Perron,” Després said. “They played late into their 30s and are still going. For me, that's a little bit of an inspiration after going through a similar injury.”

Looking for a fresh start, he found one with Slovan Bratislava of the Kontinental Hockey League in the 2017-18 season.

“I went to the KHL after the buyout and it was a phenomenal experience,” he said. “I got to travel all around Russia. I think there were seven different countries in that league at the time.

“You don't get to travel to all these cities as a tourist in Russia. I don't think they'll even let you. It was cool to have a chance to see all that.”

Després hoped the KHL might become a path back to the NHL. That never materialized beyond a later tryout with the Montreal Canadiens and a brief stint with Laval in the American Hockey League.

Instead of leading him back to the NHL, that first season overseas sent Després on the world's longest hockey detour.

Després played in Germany, Sweden and Austria. He won back-to-back DEL championships with Eisbären Berlin in 2021 and 2022 and remembers those seasons as one of the high points of his travels.

“Those were just some of the best times I've had in my life, playing hockey and experiencing a completely different culture and world and playing in NHL facilities,” Després said. “The Berlin rink, it would beat some NHL cities in America. I'd say, to win a championship in Berlin, the capital of Germany, the way their fans are just chanting and super loud and all painted up. The European culture for fans is to a whole different level from my experience.”

Eventually he landed in the United Kingdom, playing for Nottingham, Glasgow and, last season, Fife.

Somewhere along the way, seeing where hockey might take him became part of the appeal.

“Growing up, there was only the NHL in my mind,” Després said. “I wasn't really aware growing up about all these other leagues in the world.

“I'm a very curious person. I love exploring the world. When I became free from my NHL contract, I exercised my freedom of choice of traveling the world and seeing other places.”

His curiosity eventually carried him about as far from Montreal as professional hockey could take him.

While playing for Fife, Després became teammates with former NHL forward David Booth. The two had briefly shared a dressing room years earlier when Booth attended Ducks training camp but barely knew each other then.

In Scotland, they got to know each other well enough for Booth to make a suggestion.

“While he was there, he asked me if I wanted to go to Melbourne with him,” Després said. “He had just won a championship in Australia. I thought it was a great time.

“Coach Kerry Goulet was a really nice guy. David had a good experience. I was like, yeah, why not? I'll give it a try.”

So Després joined Booth with the Melbourne Ice in the Australian Ice Hockey League this summer.

It was hockey with a different rhythm.

The AIHL is a semi-professional league. Després said many of the Australian players are unpaid, work regular jobs and attend practices when their schedules allow. Imports can play enormous minutes. In one game when Melbourne dressed only 13 players and used four defensemen, Després estimated he played 35 to 40 minutes.

The AIHL credited Després with 20 points (three goals, 17 assists) in 16 games. According to Després, even that total sold him a little short.

“The stats there are not correct,” Després said. “I know for a fact they forgot five assists over those 16 games. That’s like 20 percent of my points. You got to take these stats with a grain of salt. There was even more than what's on paper.”

The structure may have been different from the leagues Després knew in Europe and North America, but the enthusiasm around the sport impressed him.

“They love their hockey in Australia,” he said. “There's a huge fan base and there's great potential for growth in that league. Keep an eye out for that league.”

Després was still in Australia when Fort Wayne called.

After years overseas, the opportunity to test himself again against North American professional players appealed to the competitor in him. At 35, Després still has an appetite for another challenge.

He brought up Jaromir Jagr, whose professional career stretched to nearly four decades, as an extreme example of how long a player can keep going. Jagr, 54, told NHL.com in March that his playing career was likely over, though he has not formally announced his retirement.

“If you look at a guy like that, I consider myself extremely young,” Després said. “Not that I'm going to play until those years.

“I'm probably going to play my whole life, whether it's professionally or not. I'm very passionate about the sport. If I can still do it professionally, why not?”

And Fort Wayne does not sound like the end of his travels.

“I'm probably going to do some ice hockey classics in Scotland and Australia next summer and spring,” Després said. “I'm still going to be playing hockey after this season.”

Després knows another injury could end it. He admits that when he signs a contract and looks at the schedule, he sometimes wonders how his body will handle it. Then he finishes the season, another opportunity arrives and he keeps going.

“I play every game like it's my last a little bit,” he said. “It's a way for me to really appreciate it.”

After all those years, leagues and miles, his reason for continuing has become fairly simple.

“I have a talent for the game. It's my craft,” Després said. “I'm an artist and when I play, I get to express myself a little bit. It's something I really appreciate doing in my day-to-day life. I want to keep doing it as long as I can.

“The kid in me just loves it. That's why I keep doing it.”

Després knows another injury could end it. He admits that when he signs a contract and looks at the schedule, he sometimes wonders how his body will handle it. Then he finishes the season, another opportunity arrives and he keeps going.

“I play every game like it's my last a little bit,” he said. “It's a way for me to really appreciate it.”

After all those years, leagues and miles, his reason for continuing has become fairly simple.

“I have a talent for the game. It's my craft,” Després said. “I'm an artist and when I play, I get to express myself a little bit. It's something I really appreciate doing in my day-to-day life. I want to keep doing it as long as I can.

“The kid in me just loves it. That's why I keep doing it.”