Simon gets record setting suspension

On Monday, the Islanders did what I expected them to do. They asked Chris Simon to step away from the team. They placed him on a "paid leave" and suggested that he get counseling and other things before returning to the team. They stressed that he was still part of the team and that he would be able to rejoin them when he got himself straightened out. They did this before the league made its ruling on the punishment to fit his heinous crime. Perhaps they wanted the league to go easy on him since they were handling things "in house". The league did not go easy on him.

Most NHL disciplinary cases are dealt with via conference call. This one was dealt with in person on Tuesday. The meeting is said to have lasted 30 minutes, and instead of immediately deciding upon a suspension, Colin Campbell et al decided to sleep on it. The ruling came in on Wednesday: 30 games. He will forfeit $292,683 in salary and will be eligible for reinstatement in February. This is the longest suspension in the history of the NHL, longer by five games than the suspension he finished earlier this season. Longer by five than Jesse Boulerice's crosscheck to the face of Ryan Kesler. Longer by seven than the one given to Marty McSorley.

Simon has tallied just three (1/2) points in 26 games played this season. He missed the first five while finishing his 25-game suspension and will now miss the next 30.

Campbell said, in part:

"...while the act itself was extremely dangerous, the fact that this is the eighth incident requiring the imposition of supplementary discipline on Simon compelled me to impose a very severe penalty in this case.

When a player repeatedly evidences the lack of ability to control his actions and conducts himself in total disregard of the rules, as well the health and safety of other players on the ice, each subsequent incident is deserving of enhanced scrutiny and more severe discipline. This response serves not only the purpose of imposing appropriate punishment for the player involved, but also the purpose of deterring the player and all other players from engaging in similar conduct in the future - hopefully creating a safer long-term work environment for all NHL players."

Simon is expected to appeal the suspension, but I don't suppose it will be to any avail.

Chris Simon at it again

On Saturday, Islanders bad guy Chris Simon was given a match penalty for stomping on the leg of Penguins winger Jarkku Ruutu. It's likely that Simon will see a very lengthy suspension after the league reviews the incident.

The video shows that Simon goes to the bench area, gives Ruutu a slew-foot, knocking him to the ice, then deliberately stomps on the foot/ankle/leg of the prone player.


Last season, Simon received a 25-game suspension for his baseball-like swing at the head of Rangers' winger Ryan Hollweg. The 25 game ban spanned the remainder of the 2006-07 season, the playoffs and the first five games of this season. In his career, he had five other suspensions totaling 10 games.

When the Hollweg incident occurred, there was a lot of noise being made by hockey fans looking for a life ban on the Simon. Most people assumed that it would work out that way anyway because Simon became a free agent over the summer. Because of his advanced age, his minimal skill set, his propensity for injuries and his bad reputation, we all assumed that nobody would pick up a contract on him. The Islanders proved us all wrong.

When Simon was re-signed by the Islanders, I guessed that it was a favor extended to him by coach Ted Nolan, who is a fellow First Nationer. Nolan has been a long-time surrogate father to the troubled Simon.

This latest transgression is completely undefendable. There will be no "he was just finishing his check". There will be no "Ruutu helped himself into the ice" or "it only looks bad because of the slow motion".

I think the league needs to really bear down on this and give him another "very long" suspension. 20 games. Ted Nolan, who did Simon a huge favor, should be embarrassed about sticking his neck out and he should be furious with Simon. This is unbecoming of a hockey player, and for all the trouble Nolan has gone to on Simon's behalf, this is unbecoming of a First Nationer. Not that I would know, mind you.

Simon refused to comment after the game, and Nolan will wait until he has "reviewed the situation" to make comment.

Explain something to me

Maybe I'm just a dimwitted southerner, but here's something I don't get. I would appreciate any help in this matter.

Chris Simon is still suspended, right? When he lost control against Ryan Hollweg last March, he was suspended for the remainder of the 2007 season and the playoffs. The length of the suspension was supposed to be "a minumum of 25 games", with the stipulation that if the 25 games was not served, it would carry over to this season.
He served 15 games in the regular season, and five in the playoffs for a total of 20 games. His suspension should not be over. To my knowledge, it hasn't been commuted, either. He should still have five games remaining on his suspension, then a possible reinstatement by Gary Bettman.
I realize that these preseason games aren't "actual" NHL contests, but I don't understand why he's allowed to participate. He participated and played a major role in the brawl on Lawn Guylund.

Am I alone in thinking that he shouldn't be allowed to play in pre-season games either?
And am I also alone in thinking that his involvement in the brawl should play an aggrivating role in his quest for reinstatement?

I didn't watch the game, so I can't possibly know all the details, but when I read about it and his high profile involvement in the brawl, I was very confused.

In the NFL, players who are under suspension when training camp opens don't play in preseason games. In extreme circumstances (read: Micheal Vick), they're told to stay away from any NFL facility. This should be the case in the NHL.

In this exact circumstance, Ted Nolan should have had the foresight to scratch Simon from the game. There was a lot of completely senseless aggression going on in a game that doesn't count for anything. Had Simon not been there, it probably wouldn't have happened.

Obviously, there would have been (and still will be) some bad blood between the Islanders and Rangers when they first meet on November 6 on Lawn Guylund, but that's a bridge that will have to be crossed when they get to it. By allowing the suspended player to participate in that preseason game, in that highly volatile situation, that was only asking for trouble.

I just don't get why the suspension doesn't also include exhibition games.

Simon suspended minimum 25 games, featured in "feel good" story on HBO

Earlier today, Colin Campbell meted out his punishment on Chris Simon. A minimum of 25 games. Simon will miss the remainder of this season and the playoffs. He will not be reinstated at any point if the Islanders make a deep playoff run. If the Islanders fail to qualify or get eliminated early from the playoffs, the balance of the 25 games will be served in the 2007-08 season.

In an ironic twist, Chris Simon was part of a "feel good" story on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. The segment was about Islanders coach Ted Nolan, and his relationship with Simon was part of that story. Nolan is full-blood First Nation Ojibwa and first met Chris Simon, who is half-Ojibwa while coaching the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in 1991. Simon was a rambunctious kid who had problems with discipline and with alcohol. Nolan himself had had alcohol problems as a kid, and took Simon under his wing. He got Simon to settle down, and that was a defining moment in Simon's career, but soon Nolan and Simon would part ways.

Nolan became an assistant coach with the Whalers, then a head coaching job with the Sabres. He walked away from his job with the Sabres when he was insulted by a one-year contract extension after winning the division title in 1997. He was out of hockey entirely for ten years, turning down occasional offers, most notably with the Lightning.

Somehow, Nolan found his way back into a head coaching job with the Islanders this season, and one of the first things he wanted to do was to get Chris Simon. The two were reunited. This is the spin that the HBO story took. The touchy-feely element.

This story was obviously filmed, and first aired before the "Simon incident", because it mentioned nothing of it. In fact, the story said that Simon was repaying Nolan for his faith in him by playing well and playing in every game this season.

Irony.

After the decision was handed down, obviously people began to debate. Some say it's way too harsh, some say it's way too soft. He got exactly what I expected him to get, but I actually think it might be a bit too soft. Given his track record, which includes a history of suspensions stemming from stick fouls, the book had to be thrown at him. The fact that it wasn't premeditated and the fact that Hollweg wasn't seriously injured should not be considered as mitigating factors. I've said that before, and I'll stand by it.

One thing that puzzles me is what Simon had to say yesterday. Brett Hull already chimed in on this, and I'm with him. Simon said, in part of a prepared statement:

I want to apologize to Ryan Hollweg. I was grateful to learn that Ryan is okay and that he returned to the game. My hope is to reach out to him in the near future.

Geez, Chris. How hard is it to pick up the phone? I know the Islanders doctors have invented those "concussion symptoms" to try to soften this whole thing, but even if your head's a little cloudy, you could at least make a few phone calls. Don't be Brooks Orpik and make the call three months down the road. Do it now. Ted Nolan will tell you that a written statement on the Islanders website isn't good enough. Go talk to him about this. Then go talk to Ryan Hollweg.

Simon suspended indefinitely, pending hearing.

Chris Simon has been suspended "indefinitely", without pay, pending a hearing. According to preliminary reports in the New York Times, this hearing was scheduled for next week. Some of this post was written with that mindset. Since then, it looks like they've bumped that meeting to Saturday afternoon.

On one hand, I like that the incident was partially addressed immediately, but on the other, I don't like that it was done half-assedly. Whatever Gary Bettman and Colin Campbell have planned for this weekend should be shelved and this should be addressed immediately.

I have faith that they will ultimately do the right thing, which is to suspend Simon for the remainder of this regular season and playoffs. I just wish they'd have their hearings over the weekend and hand down a swift and stern punishment. Remember the NBA's ugly brawl at Auburn Hills(Detroit) back in 2005? That Pistons-Pacers game was on a Friday night. By Sunday afternoon, NBA commissioner David Stern handed down his very swift, very stern, and very fair judgement. He didn't pussyfoot about the bush or postpone his judgement. In being swift and stern, he managed to save some of the NBA's face.

I'm not suggesting that the Simon incident is at all like the Pacers-Pistons brawl. Thank goodness for that.

The point is, I don't like that the NHL has decided to "sleep on it" over the weekend. While nobody wants a rush to judgement to occur in the real world, Bettman and Campbell have to realize that they're making the League look foolish when they don't come down quickly and forcefully on this matter. The sooner they get this resolved, the sooner we can move on and try to focus on the good things about hockey. The longer they let it drag on, the more people on the outside of our circle will pile more hate on our sport.

The fact that Ryan Hollweg is going to be fine should not be, as some suggest, a mitigating factor. Seriousness of injury has never been used as an exacerbating factor in determining the length of a suspension, so it shouldn't be used as a mitigator either. The only issue at hand is that Simon grossly violated the rules of the game and committed an act that can only be construed as a deliberate attempt to injure. Checking someone hard, checking someone illegally is one thing. Brandishing a weapon is quite another. Chris Simon made a really poor choice to do that, and he should suffer the consequences. He felt he had been "boarded" and was looking for recompense. Instead of hitting Hollweg with his fists or making a "run at him", he attacked Hollweg in a fashion that is so far beyond the limits of acceptability that no lenience should be granted whatsoever.

As many people have already pointed out, if Simon's stick had struck Hollweg's throat instead of his chin, we'd most likely be dealing with something much more serious.

It's impossible to get in the player's head and figure out exactly what he was trying to do with that baseball swing, but we can all agree that whatever his intent was, it wasn't good. We're probably all in agreement also that Simon completely snapped and made a horrible spur of the moment decision rather than a premeditated attack. That's what separates this from the Bertuzzi incident.

As I've said, though, I don't think there should be any mitigating factors here.

Time for Clownshoes Campbell to "man up"

This is completely disgusting.

As bothered as I was by "the Chris Neil incident" last month and the "Cam Janssen incident" last week, there are no words to describe the way I feel about the completely heinous attack carried out by the Islanders' Chris Simon against the Rangers' Ryan Hollweg on Thursday night.

After the lame suspensions that have been doled out this season and last, Colin "Clownshoes" Campbell will have to go a little further with this one. He will have to send a message.

This looks stunningly similar to the "Marty McSorley incident". After violently whacking Donald Brashear over the head with his stick, McSorley was suspended for the remainder of the 1999-2000 season (23 games) and never played in the NHL again. He was also found guilty of criminal assault charges.

The guy who handed down that suspension? Colin Campbell.

There is no way in hell he hands down another one of his trademark three game suspension™ rulings. If he does, the NHL will have a very dark mark on its face.

Hollweg will be fine, but that isn't the point. Simon wielded a weapon with deliberate intent to injure, and should be dealt with severely. I don't think it would be out of line to toss him for the remainder of this year including the playoffs. Due to his age, declining ability, and expiring contract, this is tantamount to kicking him out of the League. I also don't think it would be out of line for him to be facing a bevy of criminal and civil charges.

The most important thing is for Campbell to get control of the task at hand. Anything other than swift and harsh punishment will be bad for the League's already shaky image.

Fans of other sports leagues will be watching this closely to see how ole Clownshoes handles this. Now is the time to do the right thing.

I don't know what else to say about this right now