Nikos Kypreos (born June 4, 1966 in Toronto, Ontario) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey left winger of Greek descent. He 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
Kypreos was an effective goal scorer in juniors with the North Bay Centennials of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). He 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. 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.
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 post-concussion syndrome and was forced to retire. He would finish his NHL career with 46 goals, 44 assists, 90 points, and 1,210 penalty minutes in 442 regular season games.
Television career
Since retiring as a player, Kypreos has gone on as a hockey analyst for the Sportsnet cable television network 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. The show was 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.
Kypreos has also appeared on Sportsnet's main rival, TSN, for some extra analysis work, notably when Hockey Canada announced the Canadian national team for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Kypreos has also acted, appearing as a pro hockey player in a 1996 episode of the HBO program Arli$$ entitled What About the Fans?.
Awards and achievements
- 1987-88: Calder Cup champion.
- 1993-94: Stanley Cup champion.
Career statistics
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
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 |