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The Reaction To Simon
by Paul on 03/09/07 at 07:36 AM ET
Comments (4)
from Larry Brooks of the NY Post,
“[Simon] has been a pretty honest guy his whole career, but that was disgusting,’’ said the Rangers’ Sean Avery, a vital force again. “I don’t think he should be allowed to play another game the rest of the year.
“I mean, that was just as bad as [Marty] McSorley. I was in shock. Let’s see if the league makes a statement here.’’
added 7:55am, via the New York Times,
“I’ve always been known as a clean guy and I just feel bad for letting my team down,” Simon said. “I just don’t really want to say anything about the incident right now because I have to talk with the league first.”
Hollweg did not express anger at Simon.
“I’m a little surprised,” Hollweg said. “As far as I knew we respected each other as hockey players and that’s it. I just play my game. And playing my game helped us win, so that’s good.”
added 8:33am, from Spector at his Fox Sports blog,
What will it take for the league to get serious in cracking down on this crap?
Three and five game suspensions aren’t enough to get the message across. It’s long overdue for the NHL to put some real teeth into the punishments they hand out for these kind of infractions.
added 9:50am, from The Maven,
I give Simon credit for at least facing the media in a post-game post mortem. But there was little he could say, except for expressing general remorse.
Now it’s up to the NHL warden Colin Campbell to render a decision.
My guess is that it will be a minimum of five games.
added 9:55am, from Damien Cox at his Spin blog in the Toronto Star,
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.
added 11:35am, from Pierre McGuire at NBC Sports,
When Chris Simon took his stick and used it as a baseball bat against the face of the Rangers Ryan Hollweg he put himself in a position to be made an example.
The league needs to make the penalties for this type of behavior so Draconian, that players will REALLY think twice before they contemplate doing such reckless and dangerous things. If Simon gets less than 15 games for his brutal act, then you can expect that this type of thing will continue.
Filed in: Cheap Hits | KK Hockey | Permalink
Comments
There is no room in the league for that crap. Shut him down for the year.
Posted by Rob on 03/09/07 at 10:54 AM ET
Definitely deserves a good stack of games, I’d go with 15-20, but lets not pretend this incident is anything like the other controversial hits this year. This is not another in a long line of questionable hits, it’s a sticking to someone’s face. Other hits may have been head-hunting or blindsiding or more or less late, but stickwork like this is in a class of it’s own.
Posted by false_cause from DC on 03/09/07 at 11:05 AM ET
5 games? Laughable.
10-15 games, ridiculous.
This guy needs to be out for the rest of the year (playoffs included) and a significant portion of next year.
The fact that Simon is ‘not that kind of player’ makes it even more imperative that the League punish this severely.
No one would be surprised by a Donald Brashear getting booted for 50 games for something like this. But suspending a Chris Simon for 50 games would send a clear message that this type of action will not be tolerated, no matter who you are.
Posted by bLiNdLuCk from Mississauga on 03/09/07 at 11:16 AM ET
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He should be suspended for the rest of the season and playoffs.... that was really vicious swinging.
Posted by PuckHound61 from Speckville USA on 03/09/07 at 08:36 AM ET