By Dave Diamond
Get this perfectly clear. I do not condone violence in sports, or in any situation for that matter. What Chris Simon did was dangerous, violent and downright wrong, and he is truly lucky Ryan Hollweg is perfectly fine. No blame should be placed on the media for jumping on Simon the way it did. It is perfectly justifiable to demand suspension to a player that intentionally injures another.
With all of that a given, how could the NHL still get this one wrong? The league record-long suspension consists of the following: Simon will miss the Islanders’ final 15 regular-season games and the entire postseason, if the team reaches the playoffs. If the Islanders play fewer than 10 playoff games this year, the suspension will carry over to next season.
On the surface, a 25-game suspension for a two-handed stick attack to the face seems more than adequate in a league that wishes to revamp its reputation. But I refuse to accept that Simon is the worst violent offender the league has ever seen, which is exactly what the NHL is implying with this action. The league needed a scapegoat for its image, and Simon gave it a perfect opportunity to shoot and score.
I have watched the tape of the entire incident repeatedly, and not just the incident itself, but the moments before and after the altercation took place. If the league had truly done this objectively and brought their thoughts to past incidents that required long suspensions, they would have seen things differently.
In the midst of a heated Islander-Ranger game, both sides had their enforcer lines on the ice for extended periods of time. Since both are extremely tough players, Simon and Hollweg jabbed and grappled for the duration of the night. The incident started when Simon played the puck facing the boards just to the right of the Rangers’ bench. Hollweg did his job; he came over and crushed Simon face first into the glass. Simon was concussed on the play.
If the league watched the tape like everybody else, they would see Simon get hit, turn around, and whack Hollweg in the face with his stick, sending the Ranger sprawling face-first onto the ice and lay motionless for several minutes. If the league watched the tape closely, they would see the real reason why the incident took place.
Simon is, without a doubt, one of the real tough guys in hockey. Concussed or not, he was going to get up and look for retaliation. The problem was, he did not have time to get his bearings or realize that he was injured, because when he turned around Hollweg was already coming after him to perhaps start a physical altercation.
The most dangerous animal is a wounded one; every Boy Scout knows that adage but, apparently, Hollweg did not. Simon reacted violently when he thought he was being attacked. While the concussion is no excuse for his actions, what rational state of mind could he have possibly been? The league should take that into consideration.
How about this for consideration? The last time the NHL handed out a penalty like this, Todd Bertuzzi was the recipient in March 2004. Simon’s suspension equals Bertuzzi’s, if not more severe. The results of each incident are strikingly different, and the last time I checked, suspensions are ramifications for results. Bertuzzi broke Steve Moore’s neck, effectively ending his career. Hollweg received a few stitches.
Or what about Marty McSorley’s cheap shot on then Vancouver Canuck Donald Brashear in the 1999-2000 season? McSorley was suspended indefinitely for swinging his stick at Brashear’s head, striking him in the temple and sending him crashing to the ice, unconscious. Hollweg received a few stitches.
There is some comparison to be drawn from the McSorley incident and Simon’s last week. Both retaliated disgustingly on players that, at any given time, are perfectly capable of doing the same thing according to their reputation. Brashear is notoriously one of the dirtiest players in the game to this day. Hollweg is a goon, or the definition of a hockey player that serves no purpose but to cause physical altercations. Though Simon had been suspended in his career on several occasions (which is just wonderful criteria for the league to make a selfish example of him) he is not a goon. Simon has an offensive game and had scored 10 goals and 17 assists before the incident ended his season. Hollweg, on the contrary, has a goal this season. In fact, I was in attendance for that goal at Madison Square Garden, and I am positive Ranger fans would have been far more elated had he been in a fight instead.
This is not to say what goes around comes around, but it is certainly a questionable coincidence. Why are the recipients of such violent acts in hockey, players that only get opponents angry and hurt? Let the league figure that one out, and maybe they will make the right call as to what kind of players that no longer belong in this league. If the NHL will make Simon an example of how not to react, I will make Hollweg an example of how not to play hockey.
Simon’s Islander teammate Brenden Witt said it best. He saw Hollweg walking around and smiling after the game, so was it really as bad as the league made it out to be? Do not use the excuse that it could have been worse and they should penalize him to avoid a future incident. Anything that happens in sports could have been worse. What if he swung and missed? Technically, it could have been better! Deal with reality, not what may have happened.
The reality is that the NHL swung its own stick violently at a player who made a mistake.