Chris Simon is at it again. And he needs to be stopped. In last night’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, known agitator Jarkko Ruutu was mixing it up with another Islander player when he was tripped by Simon, and he fell to the ice against the boards. Lying in a prone position and unable to get up with players standing over him, Simon took this opportunity to try and stomp his skate on to Ruutu’s foot, earning him a match penalty with just under six minutes left and his team trying to come back from a one goal deficit.
Catching Ruutu’s boot was very lucky for Simon. Had he been a few inches further up the leg, he could have severed the tendons or the muscle and tissue around the lower part of leg where there is no protection from a surgically sharp skate blade. As it is, he just looked stupid again for putting his team in a very bad position (of course, for the five minute major, the Islanders actually played much better than the Penguins did, but that’s another nightmare).
Simons’s actions were not worse than his other "infractions". His retaliatory cross check to the face of a player, earning him a 25 game suspension, was obviously a more severe attempt at injuring another player and worthy of the time off. But, it is certainly a fact that Mr. Simon learned nothing from his time sitting in the press box. Hockey is naturally a physically demanding, punishing sport, but with idiots like Simon on the ice, they make the game a joke to the sporting world.
Chris Simon needs to be suspended for 30 or more games, not because of what he did, but because he did it again. And just because he didn’t get lucky and cut off a players foot, or because it was against another player lots of people hate, should be no reason to have him enjoy lesser time in the press box. Hockey will always be thought of as the fifth or sixth best sport as long as we allow people like him play the game.
Accidents happen. Stupidity is controlled. Time to "smarten up" the game.
