Simon: “Time And Assistance Is Needed”

Matt Bodenschatz | National Hockey League

Dec 17, 04:16 PM | Hype this story!

According to Darren Dreger of TSN.ca, the New York Islanders and Chris Simon have decided that the forward needs some form of counseling.

As a result, Simon has been given an undisclosed amount of time away from hockey to make adjustments to his behavior and to contemplate his career.

“The Islanders and I agree that the right thing to do is for me to take some time away from the team” said Simon in a prepared statement, according to Dreger.

“I have enjoyed a long career achieving my dream of being a player in the National Hockey League and I’m proud of my accomplishments. But I acknowledge that time and assistance is needed before I return to the game.”

This decision stemmed from an incident during the third period of Saturday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins that first saw Simon kick Jarkko Ruutu’s feet out from under him. Once Ruutu hit the ice, Simon clearly stepped on Ruutu’s foot with malicious intent.

Simon has been suspended six times in his career. The most recent, a 25-game suspension, concluded in mid October.

“I want to start off by making clear that there is no excuse for my actions on Saturday night and I apologize to everyone involved,” Simon said.
Clearly, though, he has not and will not learn his lesson.

At the current time, the league has not yet commented on the incident. A hefty suspension is likely, and there has even been talk of a lifetime ban from the league, though that seems quite unlikely.

Faceoff Factor will stay close to this story and report any news as we receive it.

Comments

  1. DaBich

    Dec 18, 05:17 AM

    Lifetime should be considered,if only because of the number of incidents. He obviously has issued with self control.

  2. Craig

    Dec 18, 08:34 AM

    - 25 games for a high stick on Ryan Hollweg – 2 games for kneeing Sergei Zubov – 2 games for cross checking Ruslan Fedotenko – 2 games for elbowing Anders Eriksson – 1 playoff game for cross checking Peter Popovic – 3 games for verbal comments directed at Mike Grier – 5 games for slashing Dennis Vial

    Thats plenty of warnings IMO. Lifetime ban.

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