Simon Suspended After Vicious Hit Reignites Hockey Violence Debate
Posted March 9, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
“March Madness” may be the term coined to describe NCAA basketball’s fiercely competitive elimination tournament, but it seems the insanity has made a smooth transition to the National Hockey League over the past few years as well.
With playoff races heating up, tempers have seemingly followed suit. On Thursday night, on the three-year anniversary of Todd Bertuzzi’s brutal attack on Colorado ‘s Steve Moore, yet another horrific incident took place on the ice.
This time the culprit was the New York Islander Chris Simon, who levelled Rangers forward Ryan Hollweg with a two-handed slash to the face. Hollweg had just laid a stinging body check on Simon, who retaliated in a truly frightening manner.
Luckily, Hollweg wasn’t seriously injured, although he did lay motionless on the ice for several minutes following the slash.
On Friday, the league suspended Simon indefinitely pending a hearing with Colin Campbell.
“He’s suspended indefinitely pending a hearing, I can’t say anything else,” Campbell remarked.
Many are predicting he’ll be hit with the longest suspension since Bertuzzi, who sat the final 13 regular-season games and the playoffs after his blindside punch to the head of Moore.
Bertuzzi is now with the Detroit Red Wings, while Moore hasn’t returned to the ice and continues to deal with post-concussion syndrome.
Simon’s attack reminded many of Marty McSorley’s slash to the head of Donald Brashear seven years ago.
McSorley was suspended for the final 23 games and never played in the N.H.L. again.
“You can compare it to maybe the McSorley hit on Brashear,” Leafs tough guy Wade Belak said Friday. “If he’d have hit him a little higher it could have been different. It’s a good thing he wasn’t hurt. He’s obviously going to get a hefty suspension.”
“Any time you two-hand a guy in the face, it’s not good. There’s risk of eye injury, jaw, teeth, whatever. It just looked ugly. It looked a lot worse than, obviously, he didn’t get an injury but at the same time it’s stuff you don’t want to see. Stuff like that doesn’t happen too often.”
NHL’s Longest Suspensions:
The Rest Of The Season – Marty McSorley of the Boston Bruins, for knocking out Vancouver’s Donald Brashear by swinging a stick at his head in March, 2000. McSorley missed 23 regular season games. The Bruins did not qualify for the playoffs.
The Rest Of The Season – Todd Bertuzzi of the Vancouver Canucks, for serious injuries sustained by Colorado’s Steve Moore when Bertuzzi jumped him from behind in March, 2004.
Bertuzzi misses 12 regular season games, plus an undetermined number of playoff games.
23 Games – Gordie Dwyer of the Tampa Bay Lightning, for abusing officials and leaving the penalty box to fight in a pre-season game against the Washington Capitals in September, 2000.
21 games – Dale Hunter of the Washington Capitals, for a hit on Pierre Turgeon of the New York Islanders following a Turgeon goal in the 1993 playoffs.
20 games – Tom Lysiak of the Chicago Blackhawks, for intentionally tripping a linesman in October, 1983.
20 games – Brad May of the Phoenix Coyotes, for a slash to the head of Columbus’ Steve Heinze.
16 games – Eddie Shore of the Boston Bruins, for hitting Toronto’s Ace Bailey over the head with his stick in 1933.
15 games (3 regular season, 12 playoff) – Maurice Richard of the Montreal Canadiens, for knocking down linesman Cliff Thompson during a scuffle with Boston’s Hal Laycoe in March, 1955.
15 games – Wilf Paiement of the Colorado Rockies, for swinging his stick and hitting Detroit’s Dennis Polonich in the face in October, 1978.
15 games – Dave Brown of the Philadelphia Flyers, for cross-checking Tomas Sandstrom of the New York Rangers across the face and breaking his jaw in November, 1987.
15 games – Tony Granato of the Los Angeles Kings, for slashing Pittsburgh’s Neil Wilkinson in February, 1994.
13 games – Wayne Maki of the St. Louis Blues and Ted Green of the Boston Bruins, for swinging their sticks at each other in September, 1969.
13 games – Andre Roy of the Tampa Bay Lightning, for leaving the penalty box and physically abusing an official while trying to engage players in the New York Rangers’ penalty box in April, 2002.
12 games – Brantt Myhres of the San Jose Sharks, for leaving the bench to attack Mattias Norstrom of the Los Angeles Kings in February, 1999.
12 games – Matt Johnson of the Los Angeles Kings, for deliberately injuring the New York Rangers’ Jeff Beukeboom in November, 1998. Beukeboom suffered a concussion and never played again.
12 games – Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers, for attacking Montreal’s Chris Chelios during a playoff game in May, 1989.
12 games – David Shaw of the New York Rangers, for high-sticking Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux in October, 1988.
11 games – Owen Nolan of the San Jose Sharks, for a hit to the head of the Dallas Stars’ Grant Marshall in February, 2001.
11 games (3 playoff, 8 regular season) – Tie Domi of the Toronto Maple Leafs, for knocking out Scott Niedermayer with an elbow to the head during the 2001 playoffs. Domi was suspended for the balance of the playoffs and the first eight games of the following season.
10 games – Jimmy Mann of the Winnipeg Jets, for sucker-punching Pittsburgh’s Paul Gardner in January, 1982.
10 games – Ruslan Salei of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, for hitting Dallas’ Mike Modano from behind in October, 1999.
10 games – Scott Niedermayer of the New Jersey Devils, for hitting Florida’s Peter Worrell in the head with his stick in March, 2000.
Source: Canadian Press
