This has got to stop

On Saturday, hockey took another black eye. In Nashville, another senseless turn of violent events culminated in a player being wheeled off the ice on a stretcher. The rest of the world looks on this and says "See, that's why I don't like hockey". We hockey fans can only say things like "This is what happens when we have the instigator rule in action and a clownshoe for a league disciplinarian."

I had a very long day at work, so I didn't see any hockey highlights, but the Acid Queen im'd me about this:


This is completely inexcusable.

Nashville's Jordin Tootoo, the latest in the "talentless goon" series decided to test the disciplinary waters when he laid out Dallas' Stephane Robidas with what can only be construed as a sucker punch.

Tootoo's hit on Mike Modano, which precipitated the incident, was a little high, but legal. Robidas was skating towards Tootoo, and before he could engage Tootoo, he was met with a huge haymaker. The announcer in this clip says "I don't wanna say what this reminds me of". Others will speculate that he means some other hockey incident, but the first thing I thought of was Kermit Washington laying out Rudy Tomjonavich in an NBA game 30 years ago. It's almost exactly the same.

There are those who will say that Robidas was intending to fight, so he should have expected the punch. Not like that, though. The key thing is that just as Kermit Washington and Rudy T weren't engaged, Tootoo and Robidas were not.

As repulsive as the punch was, there's also no excuse for what Mike Modano did next. The slash to Tootoo's back was quite ugly, and should warrant a multi-game suspension.

In this very ugly turn of events, the referees dropped the ball when they sorted everything out.

1. Instead of being issued a gross misconduct penalty and an instigator, and an ejection, Tootoo was given a double minor for roughing. At the end of the day, it doesn't make much of a difference because the double minor lasted for the remainder of the game, but they still need to make the right call.
   
2. Stephane Robidas was given a two minute charging penalty on the play. Huh? He never even made contact with Tootoo. His feet never left the ice, except after he was knocked out. Where's the charging?
   
3. Mike Modano was not penalized for slashing the bejeezus out of Tootoo's back. It wasn't a whole lot different than the Chris Simon thing. That's completely disgusting.

Like with the Cam Janssen/Tomas Kaberle incident (more on Janssen later), there are a few kudos to be handed out.

• Preds players JP Dumont, Paul Kariya and Kimmo Timonen were class acts. They immediately realized the seriousness of the situation, helped the Stars' medical staff get situated on the ice, and showed concern for the injured player.
  
• the organist kept quiet during the delay. It was really tacky when the Devils organist kept going while Tomas Kaberle was being tended to.

I expect the League to look at the tape and hand out some suspensions. Modano should get at least two games for his stickwork. Tootoo should get at least five for his punch.

I will say again. The League is going to have to get serious about penalizing players for doing stupid shit. This is the latest in what is becoming a long list of "stupid shit".

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