Career of Islanders tough guy Simon should be put on ice
The NHL has endured far more egregious on-ice incidents over the years than the latest involving New York Islanders forward Chris Simon, though only because his victim, Pittsburgh's Jarkko Ruutu, didn't sustain a serious injury from it.
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| Chris Simon's first career suspension dates to 1994 for a slash to the head of an opponent. (Getty Images) |
But Simon shouldn't be as lucky when it comes to getting disciplined by the league and he doesn't deserve to be. Veteran teammates like captain Bill Guerin and Brendan Witt can argue all they want about heat-of-the-moment emotions sparking irrational behavior, and coach Ted Nolan can insist that compassion and support is what's called for in Simon's case, but there is a history and a pattern here that suggests otherwise.
Simon has been unable or unwilling to learn from his repeated past mistakes, and he hurts his teammates and endangers opponents in the process. He's had more chances at redemption than anyone has a right to expect, yet he's always found a way to squander them. The message this time has to be loud and clear –- eight strikes and you're out.
For good.
Enough is enough.
Time to get yourself together and find another line of work.
Whether the NHL's disciplinarians have the gumption to ban him permanently remains to be seen, but Simon deserves it this time. He has been suspended five times previously for incidents during a regular season, once for a playoff infraction and once for a pre-season act.
The last suspension –- a league-record 25 games assessed last March after he delivered a two-handed stick swing to the throat of Rangers forward Ryan Hollweg –- ended at the beginning of this season. You'd think the guy would at least wait until the new year before flying off the handle again.
That this time involved one of the NHL's most irritating players in Ruutu doesn't really matter. There was no apparent run-up between the players in this instance, and even less rationale. Simon's act resulted in a match penalty, which meant the already-struggling Islanders had to play almost all of the last few minutes of a game they were trying to tie shorthanded.
To its credit, the Islanders organization, starting with the owner, Charles Wang, hasn't attempted to defend the indefensible, although a cynic might suggest New York has merely been doing damage control by sending Simon away so that he can "deal" with his problems. The Islanders even left a door open for a potential return, which in effect allows them to wash their hands of the matter and leave Simon's future up to the league.
"We know Chris as a respected teammate and as a gracious man away from the playing surface and believe strongly that he has earned our continued support," Wang said in his statement. "When Chris is completely ready, he will be a member of our team again."
Don't bet on it because that last part seems more like a concession to Nolan than anything else. Both the coach and the player are members of the Ojibwa First Nation Tribe, and Simon played for Nolan with Sault Ste. Marie back in 1991-92. In fact Nolan was instrumental in helping Simon quit drinking and turn around his life, setting him on a path that led to what could have been a fine NHL career.
But Simon, who will be 36 in January, never quite lived up to his potential. He scored 29 goals for Washington in 1999-2000, though generally has struggled to reach double digits in any other given season. In the meantime, though, he earned the reputation for being one of the dirtiest and most dangerous players in the league. When he was suspended last spring for the Hollweg incident, Simon's career looked like it had run its course.
Still Nolan fought for him, and New York re-signed him in July to a one-year contract for the minimum $475,000, with bonuses that could have earned him another $350,000. Simon was activated about a week after the schedule began, but whatever game he had seems to have disappeared. He scored one goal and two assists in 26 games, and wasn't providing the Islanders with anywhere near the kind of energy or deterrent factor they might have expected.
And now he has again embarrassed the team and the league with his behavior. Nolan said it was disappointing, but added that "You've got to fix the problem."
Maybe so, but then it should have been fixed before Simon was allowed back on the ice. If it takes counseling or anger-management classes or simply just a long time away from the game to make him realize what kind of fire he was playing with, Simon should have gone through it during his last suspension.
If 25 games didn't serve as a wake-up call, then nothing will. And no one else in the league should be at risk for serious injury because of it.
