On the Islanders Beat

BS

I'm deeply ashamed of Simon's conduct, but isn't this about as long as the suspension to Dale Hunter for his much, much worse hit on Turgeon? Also, how can the Nassau County DA consider charges against Simon when they didn't charge Hunter?

Tucker threatens to injure Peca and get's nothing, Roberts get's a five minute penalty for running Jonsson from center ice and Simon get's this for a guy who was not hurt?

A lot of double-standards.

Most penalties, least pp's, another disallowed goal again last night.

Never seen a team with a winning record treated like this.

Campbell must be getting some nice kickbacks from Dolan and the teacher's pension fund.

The NHL Brass Sux!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let's not forget Orr's cross-check to the face of Ovechkin.

Apparently the punishment is dictated by what jersey the player is wearing.

Furthermore, what about Brasheer sucker punching Witt in the chops last night? 2 minutes?

This league is a joke and it better start making an effort to show consistency when ruling on these matters or they risk the possibility of alienating some fans to the point where they will not return.

I am almost at that point.

ITS A CONSPIRACY!
GET OVER IT! YOU ALL SUCK AS MUCH AS SIMON!

Simon's suspension will finally force Nolan's hand to put someone with some real talent into the line up. Now, how do we get Meyer suspended???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QM-cfpsRK4
Price: 23 Games

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjdS8SDc37s
Price: 13 Reg Season Games, 7 Playoffs and the Lock out as a vacation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xte-Vtxg-m8
Price: 21 Games (and who cares it was an Islander)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht6RyAI9370
Price: Priceless!
25 Games longest suspension ever in the NHL by game. The win goes to the Rangers and the Conspiracy continues...

THE NHL HATES THE ISLANDERS AND FAVORS THE RANGERS!!!

WWOOOOOOOOO!
LETS DO THE CHICKEN DANCE!

So let me get this straight...

Dale Hunter, who followed Turgeon after a goal, for no apparent reason other than he was angry because he was losing, and assaulted him with a blind sided hit that results in Turgeon missing over 2 weeks with a separated shoulder and effectively kills the Islanders chances at winning the Cup. Hunter gets 21 games...

Todd Bertuzzi, whose actions were a pre-meditated response to a hit a week earlier, ran down Steve Moore from behind, broke his neck and ended his career, received 20 games...

Chris Simon, who suffered a head injury as a result of what should have been a boarding penalty, gets up in a daze resulting from the injury and chops Hollweg. Hollweg plays the next day, symptom free. Simon gets the longest suspension in NHL history?

I'm at a loss as to where the logic is there? I guess it's the same logic that is applied when a team scores a goal, clearly shown in a replay, and the league rules, "No GOAL!"...

Maybe Chris Simon should have just hauled off and cold cocked him with a left hand...as we all know from last night's game that is only a 2 minute minor...

The NHL is the biggest joke in sports.

THIS IS WHAT IS KNOW AS SCAPEGOATING.

Gutless act. Drop the gloves if you have something to prove, but don't swing at a guy's neck. If Simon's stick lands two inches lower, Hollweig is in a morgue

10-15 games would have been "fair". 25 games is overkill.
How do they justify "the full extent of the playoffs"? What is the reasoning behind that.
The league allowed ownership to suck money out of this organization for years, then it rubber-stamped the sale of the team to a con artist, and now it seems like they will make every effort to make it fail.
There has been a clear...very clear disparity of calls for and against this team... and now they dole out a SUBJECTIVE punishment. What if this happened in game 3 of the season... does Simon get 79 games and all of the playoffs...
Give him a number of games, or the rest of the season... and give him something FAIR... as noted above there is no precedent for this.
MR WANG NEEDS TO STEP UP.

Rop the gloves? Please. A head hunting punk like Hollweg was never gonna drop the gloves with Simon. He'd rather do all his hitting from behind. Of course Simon could have just sucker punched him like Brashear did last night...because as we all saw that is only a minor penalty.

this completely BS, hollweg didnt even get seriously hurt, dis much for a guy who wasnt hurt, wut bourt betruzzi who ended moore's career and turgeon, dey did a lot of wrose and got less penalty. u see the NHL wants to see the isles fail. dats all therie is to it, u know wut The NHL can just stfu and take the stick up their u know wut. what a disgrace the NHL is. now i know why it a joke among all pro sports. treats some favorlably and screws others over.

yes it's frustrating...the hypocrisies, the inconsistencies in the way 'justice' is meted out by the 'powers that be', the lame marketing attempts and rules changes over the years - but it's canada's pride and product - and it's canadians that control the sport - and it will always be a 2nd rate product, just as canada will always be the second rate 'neighbor' we must endure, a country formed out of the leftovers of a continent -

Simon blew it...but on the other hand where is the boarding penalty, and why was Holwig skating back towards Simon (looking for a retaliation penalty) after running him into the boards when the puck was somewhere else. If the referee calls the penalty on Holwig, and Holwig plays his position instead of looking for a retaliation penalty, the event never occurs.

Wow...I'm all for discouraging stick violence, but come on NHL. This was in no way shape or form worse than what McSorley or Bertuzzi did.

Losing Simon sucks...but, whats worse is this: the isles have not played nearly as well after getting Smyth as before that trade. And, we gave up our future! For what? A first round exit in playoffs? That is, if we make the playoffs. The Rags are a better team right now. Face it.

Top dog,

The isles and rags are evenly matched right now. You think that they're better right now b/c they beat us in a shootout and a game that should have went to ot. I think that they have better offenc, we have better defence, and the STARTING goaltending is about even. This is why the last 2 games were real close.
By the way... its not only b/c of bergeron that the pp is better... if you don't have guys like smyth in front of the keeper its very hard to score on an nhl goalie (I don't care how hard your shot is). The only decrease in quality that I have seen is since yashin has entered the lineup... sad, b/c I couldn't wait for him to come back

This is a disgrace. Dale Hunter took away the opportunity for the Islanders to win the Stanley Cup and he gets 21 games, here the guy wasn't even injured and Simon gets 25. The Islanders beeter appeal this suspension. (and Fox News did an article on hockey violence last month and said that Hunter shouldn't have even gotten 21 games.)This isn't about what Simon deserves or doesn't deserve...it is about the league being fair with the way they hand out suspensions.

The NHL People are out of touch. No sport on the planet except for hockey allow fighting. I will not spend my money on anything involving the NHL until they get rid of the fighting.

Halloweg, is a whiner who played dead on the ice. I mean come on two stitches. Old rooky kevin colley broke his neck and didnt act that way. Hes the reason the hit looked so bad and the reason simon is suspeneded. Halloweg either should be givin an acting award or have take a class on what it means to be tough in hockey.

nomore nhl... unfortunately the biggest problem with the NHL is that they are trying to appease people like you. They spend all of their time trying to bring in new fans who don't really like hockey, all while changing the game that real hockey fans love. If you don't like it, don't watch it!

I support a significant penalty, but a 25 game minimum? Honestly, this is the worst penalty in league history? And if it's not, what's just about the punishment?

1. As other have noted, Hollweg's ok, save a few stitches. The injury (or lack thereof) should be a mitigating factor here.

2. This was not a premedidated hit. McSorley, Bertuzzi, and Hunter all stalked their victims and blindsided them. There was clear premediated intent to injur in each hit.

But Simon was the one who was blindsided, and then Hollweg returned to Simon rather than stick with the play. Simon snapped, unlike the players I listed above. This, again, seems like a huge mitigating factor.

I'd suggest ten, maybe even fifteen games, but 25 (or more, depending on how the Isles progress in the postseason)?

Simon's conduct was reprehensible, both morally and from a team standpoint (bad penalty at a bad time). But he is not the villain that others have been. I believe his apology: the man we saw swinging the stick is not the man Simon is, or wants to be. Maybe it was the concussion, maybe it was a momentary surge of anger. I can't say. But I can say that the hit lacked the reprehensible premediation we've seen before.

Simon shouldn't receive mercy from the league. He deserves a stiff punishment. But the league, the media, and the fans need to stop treating Simon like he's the most despicable man to ever lace up in the NHL.

Hey Greg,

Any info on Blake Comeau's injury? I read a few weeks ago that he hurt his ankle and I noticed that he hasn't played since - was wondering how serious it was ...thanks in advance

first off - i nor any other reasonable person condones what simon did. there is obviously no reason to swing a stick at another players face no matter what team they play for. however, it is very hard for me to accept that this is worse than what mcsorley or bertuzzi did and it is justified that simon receive a 25 game minimum suspension. bertuzzi delivered a premediated attack on moore while his back was turned. the more appropriate number is 15-18 total games.

obviously the nassau DA should not get involved in this. technically, you can get arrested for punching someone in the face, so how come every time there is a fight in the NHL, players aren't arrested? you can't pick and choose where and when to enforce the law.

as for zipay and others that say the hollweg hit on simon was clean - the rulebook says you are not allowed to hit somebody in the back. the hit should have been a 2 minute boarding call. i'm not saying simon is excused because of this but it's clear that it wasn't a clean hit.

the isles are not going to be that worse off without simon. simon is a slow skater and they have witt and asham to drop the gloves if necessary and how often do we see fights in the playoffs?

Really, and I am not trying to be an idiot here. I think Simon was a good player for the Islanders and I think he had a key role. But, at one point this season he was second line and as of late fourth. So he has slipped or things have changed with the team. Simon is a free agent next year. My money says Isles don't resign him. So what does it really matter? He is gone, example set and the Isles rest of the season is probably better off without the guy and the "incident" looming around.

No? Am I wrong?

This incident could have been avoided if the Ref had called the obvious boarding penalty on Hollweg, who then ignored the puck to swing by Simon hoping for a retaliatory penalty which he certainly got. This also was a "heat of the moment" incident, unlike Bertuzzi who waited a week to literally break the neck of Steve Moore and ended up with a lesser suspension. Moores' career is over, Hollweg skated the next game with 2 stitches on his chin. I'm not trying to excuse Simons' action, but point out the uneven justice the NHL metes out. It should be based on the injury sustained, not on how it looks on Sportscenter, and right now Simon has a concussion and Hollweg has a bandaid.

Modulus,

You make a good point and I am not trying to argue either way. The discussions on this have not stopped since well, Since Simons stick stopped on Hollwegs chin.

I have heard alot of conversations about this to on the Radion especially XM. The whole punishment=injury thing really isn't a fair way of handling things. If the Rangers wanted to be smart and calculated about things Hollweg would have left the game and shouldn't have been available to the media directly following the game and they could have played it up. They weren't they were honest he is OK and it is what it is.

The punishment to the inujry thing though is a hard one to follow. Bertuzzi shouldn't be playing then right now, is that what your getting at? Just because Simon did that with his stick and Hollweg is OK with Stitches he should have what, just gotten maybe a misconduct?

What Simon did crossed many lines and to say, hey you know what Holleg is OK so let it go does not keep the next Moore from losing his career and life as he knows it...

Please don't be confused either, I am not saying this because it was a Rangers/Islanders thing...

Two other things that i read here and have to comment on...

Hollweg looking for more:
Watch the replay Hollweg is doubling back because after he hits Simon the puck goes to the net then to the corner closest to them. The Rangers D-man has it and is coming up those boards.

Hollweg not fighting Simon:
After watching Hollweg for the last two season I can tell you that he would drop the gloves with Simon if necessary and take his beating like a man. Look at some of the other guys that he has dropped the gloves with. Most times he does drop the gloves I ask myself what the heck is he thinking?

Watching the replay:
Just noticed that Asham watches the whole thing from about 10 feet away and quickly looks up ice as if to say 'oh my god, did he just do what I think he did?' No point to that there just thought it was funny as i watched it.

Amazing that Isles fans are complaining about this suspension. Who cares what the injury was. Simon was lucky! Had he hit hollweg in the throat he could have killed him. Suck it up. Simon Screwed up and got what he deserved. A gutless punk play doesn't deserve the defending that Isles fans are doing here.

There's another factor here in the length of the suspension...A few actually...

If this was a first time suspension, Simon might have been able to plead colossal brain-fart and get away with ten games, but he's been up before the league for suspension five times before, with at least one of those suspensions being stick related.

I'm not in any way, shape or form a Colin Campbell fan...In fact, I think him and the refs brigade wouldn't know "consistent" if it walked up to them and planted a "Brashear" on their mugs (Brashear...You'd think after it happened to HIM once, he'd try not to be such a sphincter boy). This suspension was something he HAD to put forward to avoid looking like a complete clown.

The worst part is, it's not over with Simon's suspension. There's a good chunk of games left in the regular season and the playoffs, and everyone's nerves are rubbed raw. I hope there have been lessons learned and they go by without another big incident, but until this league takes a good look at how it presents, and referreed its product, we're all only one shift away from another argument just like this one.

Simon deserved every bit of the suspension that he got.

You can't compare this to the past incidents I've seen listed here for the simple reason that it's a completely different group of people making the rulings.

Look, Simon's hit was cheap and gutless. Hollweg has done his share of fighting this year and would have been more than willing to go if Simon had dropped his gloves. The bottom line is that Simon came within an inch, the width of one stick, from hitting Hollweg in the throat. That Hollweg wasn't hurt was a matter of luck, not design and I think the NHL actually gave him a lighter suspension because of the fact that Hollweg wasn't hurt...had Simon hit Hollweg's throat, possibly ended his career if not his life, 25 games would be the least of Simon's problems.

I think Simon should go to jail or get 2 seasons of suspension..Simon shouldn't have done that..he should of dropped his gloves..and fight hollweg..and i would most likely think hollweg would of dropped his gloves also..instead of simon using his stick as a weapon.

if simon was so tough as to kick hollwegs ever lovin ass than why use a stick?i know why cause he was rocked by a good clean hit,(what was that with his feet leaving the ice).if he was that rocked by that hit,he was smart using his stick.why take the chance on getting rocked by a left hand,just use a 2 handed baseball bat swing at hollwegs throat.that's a lot classier.dale hunter?the guys in a wheel chair LOL.wow let it go.this is 2007 right?for all you isles fans just thank God for the rangers.if not for the rangers, than when the hell would you sell out that dump?.bring back the long island ducks!!!(the hockey version),the long island arena,and rid us of these islanders.

Simon has a right to appeal his suspension and IMO he should.

In the new CBA (I believe its Article 8)a repeat offender is someone who has been suspended at least twice in an 18 month span.

In a recent interview, Campbell stated that Simon's sentence was based on the fact that he was a "repeat offender".Simon has not been suspended in the previous 18 months so this should not have been a factor in determining his suspension.

If this is correct the league may have another PR nightmare on their hands IF Simon decides to pursue an appeal(which he should IMO).

This is an important issue which would not only call into question the league's "repeat offender policy" , but pose the bigger question ,"Why wasn't Colin Campbell aware of it?"

Please, there's no way he wins an appeal. This isn't the baseball players' union. This union was broken after the lockout and will stay that way. Any appeal will go the same way that appeals in the NBA and NFL go...the commish will thank them for coming, then tell them to get out of his office.

I believe that the "repeat offender" policy is a reason to extend penalties, such as what Cam Jansen did, however I think the Simon penalty would stand on it's own, the fact that he was suspended before just meant he wasn't getting cut any slack.

If this case then deserves up to 43 games, as you claim, Chip, why was Colton Orr suspended only five games?Was it because it wasnt such a big game? Or was it because it didnt happen to a Leaf or Ranger player?

If I were Simon I would go to the media with this to show just how inept Colin Campbell is.

This is straight from the CBA:

Status as a "first" or "repeat" offender shall be re-determined every eighteen months. For example, where a player is suspended for the first time, he is a repeat offender if he is suspended again within eighteen months of the first incident. If he is not suspended a second time within this eighteen month period, he is no longer a repeat offender for disciplinary purposes.

Campbell claimed Simon was sentenced because he was a repeat offender.

Again Simon(or someone on the Isles) should go to the media and bring this to light.

I'd like to see him back for the playoffs.

I have been watching the Simon hit from the MSG feed on youtube and let me tell you....http://youtube.com/watch?v=esETGHljQi4

1. Holliweg used both hands put push Simon by the upper back into the boards. His head goes crashing in
2. Simon is slow to get up and looks dazed
3. Holliweg is now coming back at him - I MEAN WHAT WOULD YOU DO?!?!?!?
You just got crushed and now the guy is skating right at you???!?! And give the excuse that Holliweg was going for a pass...he saw the stick coming right into his chest....
4. In the last replay in slowmo....the stick hits Holliweg's chest and slides up to his chin
5. How long did it take for the Ranger's medical guys to get out there to attend to Holliweg....

I really feel that Simon has gotten too many games. Should have been 15 or the end on playoffs. Next season not effected.

Anonymous,
You and all the fans arguing this have got to be joking. You write here like the rest of the world cant pull that video up and do a little research to see that you are WRONG!

1. Watch the hit again closely you will realize that when Hollweg makes contact on Simons "back" you can read both numbers on contact. So unless Simon had his Jersey on Sideways that discussion is over!

2. Simon is slow to get up only after he looks up to see if a Ref saw it. Bell rung, maybe. Hard hit, sure. Concussion please! Since when does a guy the size of Simon get thrown around the rink by a guy the size of Hollweg?

3. Hollweg is clearly coming back to follow the play and if Simon got the puck you better believe that he was hitting him again. Not with his stick though, with his body like REAL hockey players do!

4. I agree with you on that one I actually think that the stick was aimed for his chest and in an effort to dodge the stick the result was chest then chin.

5. It did take a while you see the Rangers goalie actually looking for staff when Hollweg is down.

Too many games. there is the same amount of arguments saying too many and not enough. Therefore the NHL did it right. What is the most important thing to do for a hockey player? Make the playoffs, play in them and win. Take that away and that is the ultimate punishment.

Hello my name is Hunter. Chris Simon is my idle, he taught me that when somebody checks me into the boards, I can get up and chop at the guys head (i mean its only 25 game suspension it's not like im going to jail or anything right?). You can get back to me at lilgreco45@aim.com, Thank You.

Its "idol".At least spell your gibberish correctly.

We need to stop comparing the McSorely and Bertuzzi incidents to this. Who cares what precedents have been set. The fact is, this type of violence needs to be stopped in the NHL. Anyone who uses their stick as a weapon needs to be kicked out of the league for good. No matter what. I am an Islander fan, and I want Simon off the team. Thats it. Its not about comparing it to past events, its about setting a precedent for future events.