Gettin' Ugly Out There

Colin Campbell's suddenly a busy, busy man.

With the hockey industry still buzzing about an apparently lenient three-game suspension handed out to New Jersey enforcer Cam Janssen last week for bushwhacking Tomas Kaberle of the Maple Leafs seven days ago, Campbell will be calling another goon on the carpet today.

You know, one of those irreplaceable dudes who police the league and keep the sticks down.

The players without whom there would be anarchy.

You have to believe that either today or tomorrow Campbell will be handing the longest suspension of the season to Chris Simon of the Islanders after his nasty piece of stickwork on New York Ranger forward Ryan Hollweg.

You gotta see this one to believe it.

The incident occurred in the third period with the game tied 1-1 on Long Island. Hollweg, one of your garden variety agitator types, hit Simon hard into the side boards, with the Islander tough guy apparently hitting his face on the glass and falling to the ice.

The visibly angry Simon then got up and, rather than challenging his opponent to a fight as per "The Code," took a vicious two-handed slash at the Ranger forward's head.

Simon's stick seemed to catch Hollweg flush on the chin, sending him sprawling to the ice face down.

Head shot using a stick. A daily double.

While somebody somewhere will undoubtedly twist this incident into a argument as to why the instigator penalty should be abolished, Simon justifiably received a match penalty and will definitely be suspended.

But for how long?

Simon has been suspended on at least three other occasions. In 1997 he was banned for three games for uttering a racial epithet to Mike Grier, and in the winter of 2004 he was suspended twice, once for cross-checking and once for kneeing.

So we're talking multiple offender, here, a legitimately tough player who has been making room for himself for years by wielding his stick in menacing ways.

The longest suspension handed down by Campbell this season was nine games to Nashville's Scott Nichol for sucker-punching Jaroslav Spacek of Buffalo.

Simon should be looking at 10 games, minimum, although, remarkably, Hollweg wasn't seriously hurt on the play.

Twenty games would be the correct suspension, but with the moment-to-moment NHL, you just never know.

Simon could even get the Chris Neil free pass and I wouldn't bat an eye. NHL suspensions are just so unpredictable.

The Rangers, by the way, scored the winning goal on Simon's match penalty, helping the Islanders lose a critical game as they fight for a playoff spot.

Chalk up another one for the policemen.

Comments

[Tapetor]

It isn't hard to forget that hockey players aren't smart. As a rule, the development of hockey players is most compareable to the mafia. Retarded old system of brutality, without the values/morality that used to govern the members. Why can't we admit that we have issues within the NHL because the players aren't growing up and the people that "develop" prospects aren't really trying to produce people, but players whose ambitiion is winning.
So, back to the collective hockey mind being a dim one...because these people are lauded throughout their young development, as future pro athletes often are, they're given passes on many many things and don't learn to respect authority...the NHL's problem isn't that the rules aren't good enough, it's that hitting someone in the head with a stick isn't only against the rules, it's bloody retarded and wouldn't be excepted(not accepted) anywhere else in our lives. So...are all hockey players unintelligent? It seems that way at times. What is certain is until players and former players collectively realize that there are life consequences(death, permanent injury), things that are as against the rules as this event must be dealt with by the law. Think about it...he two handed a guy in the face with a stick...the only people who swing harder at heads are senator's players...and i bring them up because it shows that it isn't just the Simon's who are stupid, the marquee players are equally inept. They aren't conditioned to be people with the usual mentality and responses, but individuals who missed out on time at home and in school in favour of the rituals of the "old boys club" that is HOCKEY! Make them follow some human rules and maybe they'll act like humans. By the way, the beatles were at the height of their success in early '67 and the comparison of them to the leafs was odd...great book everywhere else.

[Chris]

The odds were a million to one that I would hit this website from work this morning while trying to get more info on the Simon hit. I find this column and then read this idiot trying to impress us with his wit. This blogger has obviously been embarrassed or felt inferior because of a hockey player growing up. I apologize for the hockey players that made you feel that way.
It might not be comletely fair to lump us all together. I played hockey in college and @ Lake Superior State Univ was an academic All-American. After school I thought I would give the NHL a shot and and if it didn't work then I would just continue my Graduate work. Well, after 12 years and over 500 NHL games..I never got that MBA. I retired in 98' and have been building my career since.
I do understand that it can be very frustrating for you. You could not play the game of hockey at a high level and yet these so-called "simpleton's" retire, hit the work force and take your job. It must be tough going thru life with that bad taste in your mouth. Good luck dealing with it.

[Vernon Green]

The NHL is a farce with regards to its discipline. It's like the line in the movie Paris Trout,where the character played by Dennis Hopper after killing a black man wonders how much his fine will be. I doubt the NHL will be much different.

[Marc]

Simon was wrong in doing what he did, and should get at least 10 games. I'd much rather he drop the gloves and pound the initial offender to the ice with his fists (funny how you conveniently forget the dangerous bording hit Hollweg put on Simon to spark the incident). But then, the pantywaist anti-fighting crowd (including yourself) would STILL be up in arms about the incident. Funny how you dismiss on-ice "policemen", with new rules in place prohibiting players policing themselves, high-sticking will of course go up, as no one is held accountable for their actions. You have this all wrong, and apparently, crowds are listening as attendance is dropping faster than the NHL's TV ratings.

[Peter]

Before we all put on our righteous caps and sick the dogs on Chris Simon, let's look at the whole sequence of events.
Remember 5-10 years ago when everybody was on their high horse about hitting from behind into the boards? Well, guess what, Hollweg put his stick onto Simon's back and (let's not mince words, shall we?) cross-checked Simon from behind into the boards, and Simon bumped his nose. He was understandably not happy about the situation.
Now, I can't defend his reaction. Simon's been around the league long enough to know exactly what he can and can't get away with, so he clearly wasn't in a diplomatic state of mind. Should he have dropped the gloves and filled that kid's mouth with a fist? Absolutely, Hollweg's check was just as you called it Dam, an agitator, clean by today's 'standards' but in reality a bit of a cheap shot. To me, it looked like Simon was trying to do just that (drop 'em and mop 'em) but Hollweg was turning away - probably realising that he was about to get his butt kicked - so Simon did what he did, clearly lost in the heat of the moment.
With only 6 minutes remaining in the contest, and thanks to the NHL's wisdom in banning fights in the last 5 minutes, Simon must have known that he wouldn't have another chance, so he had to do something immediately, at least in his mind. Hollweg's turning away from a tussle probably upset him just as much as the initial contact.
So, whatever happened to popping him on the next shift? Or going down to the other end of the ice and catching him with his head down (oops, can't do that anymore either)? Fine, retalliate immediately, take your stupid penalty, get kicked out, Rangers score on the powerplay, game over. I'm sure his teammates are sending him roses hoping his suspension goes well.

[Brutusz28]

I would tell Mr Simon that he wasn't welcome back until the start of the 07/08 season for his idiocy but that isnt likely to happen so maybe he should be made to listen to a certain CBC "coach" tell him that he was right for exacting revenge for that utterly clean check he received, that is, made to listen over and over and over...... until he's begging for a suspension.

[John Richardson]

Tapetor

Hmmm....hockey players are neither more nor less intelligent than the rest of the general population.

Remember Stu Grimson aka "The Grim Reaper"? He's now a lawyer with the NHLPA.

Steve Moore, Todd Bertuzzi's victim, is a Harvard graduate as his brother Dominic.

I could give additional examples but the point is your attack on the intelligence of hockey players doesn't do anything to further the discussion.

[Julius Horvath]

Any player that deliberately injures another player should be sent to the dressing room right away, ordered to take off his helmet, skates, loose the stick, put on "civilian" clothing and be handed over to local police at the rink and taken into custody. Hit's like these have no place in any sport and show how much of a big suck some players can be.

[Moose]

How is this a Policing issue? This is a bone head play. Two guys who agree to a fight, is not the same as some guy taking a cheap shot with a stick. The issue is the NHL not dealing with the cheap shots and coming down hard when this crap happens. If Mr. Campbell did his job and hit guys hard with suspensions there would be a deterrent for this. Policing is for your "normal" events within the game, stars getting run, and helpng them advoid being hounded.
A good fight is fun to watch, no one gets hurt and inspires the team. Fighting allows the skill players to play, and not get involved in all the scrums. This type of event did not happen because of fighting. Mr. Simon did not think
"hey lets fight, but I'll smack you in the head with my stick first"
He just did a bone head thing. Hey lets fight never equated to Eat my Stick.

[mark rittling jr]

Drop the insigator rule, bring back the way it usd to be...I am 41 years old and remember going to games at he Aud in Buffalo and the policemen like Jerry Korab, Jim Schonfield would not allow that to happen to a teammate.Drop the gloves have at it and its over with.
One other thought, shame on the leafs who were on the ice when Kabele was knocked out. Message to Leaf players, stick up for one another. I am sure Domi wouldnt have let that happened.
Mark Rittling Jr.
Buffalo, NY

[Mike Shelley]

Damion,

The high stick by Simon's was brutal and deserves a minimum 10 game suspension, but the league needs to look at hitting from behind. The hit on Simon's was gutless. This league should be setting an example for young players. Hitting from behind is dealt with seriously by all other levels of hockey. How do you teach young players not to hit a guy from behind, when they watch their hero's do it.

Mike S

[Daniel]

I am a hockey player. I love the game of hockey and believe it is the greatest sport in the world. But, I acknowledge that the NHL is failing and the sport as a whole is sick and suffering.

Tapetor, I agree with your diagnosis of the poor state of development in hockey, and it's impact on the pro game. I contend, however, that the NHL is not the only league, nor is hockey the only professional sport,suffering from this condition.

The NFL, NBA and MLB each have their share of embarrassment.
Steroid scandals, legal issues, and bench clearing brawls remind us that poor development combined with star treatment is a human condition and not specific to any one sport.

Also, when you pose the question, "...are all hockey players unintelligent," and you remark that "the only people who swing harder at heads are senator's players" you lose some credibilty.

And lets be clear, I'm from the Boston, MA area of hockey, I have no love for the Sens'. But the leagues problems are apparent on every team, in every city, regardless of the symbol on the sweater.

[Matt Krause]

No justification for what Simon did, but was he not hit into the boards by the numbers on the back of his jersey? Wonder if Hollweg gets slashed if he got the boarding penatly he deserved...

[Dedley]

I have a novel approach to this problem, something that ties into the salary cap era. Simply: the prorated salary of the injured player counts towards the offending team's cap.

In the latest three incidents, Ottawa's salary cap would take on an amount equivalent to Drury's salary, the Devils would be on the hook for an amount equal to Kaberle, and now the Isles would be on the hook for Hollweg's stipend.

In the specific case of the Devils, this penalty would push them over the limit, forcing them to make some negative roster decisions to compensate for the hit. While not unilaterally perfect, I feel this notion would put the onus back onto teams to police themselves so to speak, regarding this sort of unsporting behaviour.

[Philip S.]

"Peter" has it right: why is the AP reporting this as a retaliation to a hard, clean check? Simon is a goon and should get suspended for the rest of the season - no argument there - but Hollweg is far from innocent in this; his hit was CLEARLY from Simon's blind side. If Simon had been injured on the play, who's head would we be calling for?

Simon should get the season - Hollweg should get a couple of games too.

[Joel]

I'm a mild-mannered guy, but when I hit the ice, I can become psychotic. I don't even get angry, I just get violent. And I play in a beer league. Hard to say if it's the culture or if it's just intrinsic to hockey (hard-hitting fast sport PLUS you brandish a weapon), but I know there are many many players at all levels just like me.

[John Richardson]

Folks, it was not a hit from behind and it was not boarding.

If you look at the clip more carefully, Hollweg went out of his way to avoid a hit from behind by cutting around Simon and then checking him on the left side.

It was a clean check. He didn't leave his feet, he didn't have his hands up and he didn't hit him on the back of the numbers.

[charade]

"With only 6 minutes remaining in the contest, and thanks to the NHL's wisdom in banning fights in the last 5 minutes, Simon must have known that he wouldn't have another chance, so he had to do something immediately, at least in his mind. Hollweg's turning away from a tussle probably upset him just as much as the initial contact."

Peter.

As if.

[Andrew]

Damien Cox has lost it completely. A formerly respectable journalist who just can't let it go... look buddy, if you don't like the NHL there's always European leagues or women's hockey, which doesn't allow fighting. To each their own - and I like my NHL with fighting. There's a bunch of other sports that don't allow fighting, go watch them.

[Dennis Regan]

Who cares as to what caused any incident to occur. They do occur! Why !
Aside from IQ tests, phsyco tests should also be a prerequisite to playing any sport.
Smart people often do stupid things, and may have little control over their inner wishes to destroy. They should be noticed when they're young, and taken out hard-hitting games. Bullies (Domi etc.) stand out as early as grade school. How do they make it to the NHL? The violent ones in the crowd insist on their presence.
We often list to the loudest (Cherry etc.) and it's human nature to follow these leaders. The quiet ones are never heard.
Wake-up! Dump the Domis and have every action accountable to law.
Hockey as it is is an insult to sport.

[Adam C]

It's a 'policing' issue because Simon is supposed to be one of those 'policemen' types who makes sure that this kind of incident doesn't happen. Unfortunately that theory is a load of crap, and has been at least since Dave Brown tried to take Tomas Sundstrom's head off with his stick 20 years ago.

If the NHL didn't have goons, we wouldn't be talking about Simon or Janssen or Neil - because none of them would be in the NHL (but hey, yeah, having Domi around would have kept the stars safe - just ask Scott Niedermeyer).

Further, that hit by Hollweg was neither from behind (which isn't illegal anyway) nor was it boarding (Simon was too close to the boards for a boarding call). Simon put his head down to pick up the puck and somebody pasted him. It's part of hockey.

20 games would be about right, but I'll be surprised if he gets more than 10.

[Tapetor]

I've been called out and so I'll respond. Hockey players are not unique. Professional athletes are increasingly acting without any semblance of regard for consequences, we see it and comment on it regularly. Why? Perhaps because we're trying to maximize profits and we devalue the things that used to instill our values and morality. Whatever the societal pressues, a result of it has been the level of force that people apply to producing our professional and high performance athletes.

Athletes have become investments, protected and prized, but also developed to be worth as much as possible. This is NOT the case across the board, but it sure is becoming more regular.
To say that all hockey players are idiots is dumb, but, specifically Chris, the system that produces our professional and high performance athletes regularly develops insolent/ignorant individuals.

Allowed free rein in some aspects of their lives while tightly controlled in others, athletes have become prone to acting in unexplainable ways.
Any assumption that I have a disregard for the intelligence of hockey players and professional athletes in general should be tempered by the examples we're given. Simon's attack was somewhat unique in its blatant brutality, but the intention is the real issue. Simon, like Daniel Alfredsson, like Tie Domi, like Andrei Perezhogin, like it matters who does it, lost control and the problem is the system. Kids are developed to be professionals, sacrificing a lot of the things we value most from teenage and, increasingly, childhood years, replaced by dedication to a sport/contract.. Isn't it apparent that many of our athletes have shown a common disregard for authority? Allow me to paint them all with the same brush when I say, as much as it can advance them monetarily, the professional athletics development system fails many of our kids/athletes.

Fair is fair. Losing control and acting without consideration of the consequences, whatever they are, is occurring at a more regular rate among athletes and it isn't because of the instigator. (Check Malice in the Palace for some b-ball comparisons or Romo takes out an eye for some football)

[ahtung]

Chris Simon has conveniently placed himself in the position of whipping boy. He will be nailed to the cross for the right reasons but unfortunately also for all the wrong ones.

The right reasons:
- Committed possibly the worst type of hockey offense
- Has been suspended on several occasions
The wrong reasons:
- Is Ojibwa, not one of Cherry's "good ol' Irish lads"
- Coached by Ted Nolan, on a team owned by Charles Wang, two non-members of the NHL's "inner circle"
- Team managed by Garth Snow whom NHL insiders and press have openly mocked as too green
- Offense commited against league favourites, the NY Rangers
- Incident occurred at a time when Campbell and Murphy are criticized for being too lenient in assessing suspensions
- Is at the end of his career anyways; so a "lifetime" suspension may sound harsh, but not really.

So huff and puff Campbell and Murphy, here's your "perfect storm."

[peter mcallister]

After a first offence of intent to injure the offending player should be forced to sign a "good behaviour" contract - one more violation and he is out of the league forever. These goons don't add anything to the game - it's a great game and I can't understand why the NHL, the owners and the players condone activities that down grade the league's reputation and that of the truly great hockey players who entertain us.

[Tom]

The fact is NHL players or hockey players in general don't respect each other. Look at last night's game between Anaheim Ducks and the Oilers. A player violently cross checks another player in the back after a whistle and this is when all the Chris Simon hoopla is coming down. I listen to Don Taylor on SportsNet saying come on guys where's the respect? Did you not see the Chris Simon incident and what's going to happen. I remember after the Marty McSorley slash on Brashear 5 years ago when after that game Ray Bourque says "you know we all battle in this game but we have to respect one another." Obviously these guys still to this day don't respect. Enough said