Mike Grier's athletic prowess shouldn't have come as a surprise; his father, Bobby, is a longtime NFL coach and executive, and his brother, Chris, has gone from being an NFL scout to general manager of the Miami Dolphins.
But Mike's interests ran to hockey rather than football. He was raised in Holliston, Massachusetts, excelled at St. Sebastian's School and later at Boston University, where he was named a Hockey East First-Team All-Star in 1994-95.
The St. Louis Blues had selected Grier in the ninth round (No. 219) of the 1993 NHL Draft, but while at BU, he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers on Aug. 4, 1995.
Grier turned pro in 1996 and made the Oilers as a rugged checking forward who could contribute offensively, finishing with 32 points (15 goals, 17 assists) in 79 games in 1996-97. He scored at least 20 goals twice in six seasons before being traded to the Washington Capitals on Oct. 7, 2002; the Capitals traded him to the Buffalo Sabres on March 9, 2004.
After Grier helped the Sabres reach the Eastern Conference Final in 2006, he signed with the San Jose Sharks as a free agent. Three years later, he signed with Buffalo, and on Nov. 3, 2010, became the first black player born and trained in the United States to play 1,000 NHL games. Appropriately, the milestone came against the Boston Bruins, the team he grew up watching.
"It was way beyond any of my wildest dreams to be able to play in the League that long," he told the Sabres website last month, "so to do it is kind of mind-blowing. But to do it here at home in front of the fans who were so good to me and to have Boston too was something my friends back home could watch. It was a special night."
Grier retired after the 2010-11 season with 383 points (162 goals, 221 assists) in 1,060 NHL games, as well as the respect generated by a player who would never back down. He is an assistant with the New Jersey Devils, working under former BU teammate John Hynes.
