Berard: "Chris [Simon] Is A Good, Solid Guy"
Matt Bodenschatz | National Hockey League
Dec 22, 02:00 PM | Hype this story!
“Chris [Simon] is a good, solid guy,” said New York Islanders defenseman Bryan Berard.
Added winger Ruslan Fedotenko: “When I’ve experienced him as a teammate, I think he was a great person and really calm. A nice, nice, nice guy.”
Not just a nice guy — or even a nice, nice guy. He’s worthy of three nices. He must be great!
But wait, is Simon “nice” enough to, say, call a black opponent a derogatory name?
Is he “good” enough to swing a stick at an opponent’s face as retaliation for a clean check?
And how about “solid” enough to slew-foot an opponent, then stomp on his foot?
Wow, that Chris Simon fellow sure is a swell person.
Or not.
At age 35, Simon has been suspended seven times in his NHL career, including two suspensions that set NHL records for length.
Maybe those numbers can be attributed to heat of the moment situations.
But this cannot:
“I wasn’t trying to injure him,” Simon said of Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jarkko Ruutu. “I tripped him and I was telling him to [expletive], and I did step on his foot. I pushed down on his skate, I don’t deny that, but I wasn’t trying to hurt him. I don’t think a player has ever missed a game from one of my suspensions.
“I look at other guys who have been repeat offenders. One guy used his skate a second time and he got only five games. What I did was wrong, but this is unfair.”
So not only is he a grade A schmuck on the ice, he is one off the ice as well.
I suppose his well-documented long-standing problem with substance abuse — particularly alcohol — might support this claim.
It’s one thing to participate in a violent, dangerous and reckless act on the ice. It’s another to try to justify it by saying, “I don’t think a player has ever missed a game from one of my suspensions.”
So tell me, Mr. Simon, if John Doe tries to shoot and kill his neighbor, but hits his foot, does that make him innocent?
The fact that Ruutu — or any of his victims — did not miss any games as a result of his attacks should have no bearing on his suspension.
Simon says he didn’t intend to injure Ruutu — even though he slew-footed him, which happens to be a dangerous play in and of itself, and then used a razor sharp skate blade to stomp on his foot, just inches away from the back of his leg, which has no protective padding.
Now that I look at it this way, I definitely can see how Simon didn’t intend to injure. I’m surprised it wasn’t confused as a comparative gesture to shaking hands or giving a hi-five.
Luckily, the NHL wasn’t wearing Simon-colored glasses, you know, the ones Simon and his teammates were wearing. Oh yeah, his coach had them on too.
“It’s excessive,” coach Ted Nolan said of the 30-game suspension.
Excessive?
Really?
If anything, it was too modest.
We’re not talking about a player who made one mistake. This isn’t a player known for his sportsmanship.
This is a thug who has used racial slurs to offend a black opponent, who cross-checked an opponent in the throat, and, most significantly, who has been suspended seven times in his career.
Why, exactly, is he still in the NHL?
Comments
Matt
Dec 22, 07:07 PM
I agree Simon should be out of the league but Simon makes a great point (while trying to say he isn’t that bad) he says none of his suspensions have caused people to miss games. this is a great point about a major problem with the nhl. all too often they make decisions on suspensions based on the result of actions and not the action itself. simon should be gone and the league needs to suspend based on the nature of what happened not the injuries or results after.
Ashley Gallant
Dec 22, 09:24 PM
I still don’t get how his teammates can continually defend him for this crap. I understand that Simon has done a lot of good community work, but doesn’t this negate (or at least diminish) all good things that he has done with First Nations kids?
I am so sick and tired of hearing people say that this suspension is unfair. Or that Ruutu deserved it. Don Cherry just said something to the effect of “you kind of understand why he did it,” which has me absolutely infuriated. This ‘blame the victim’ mentality must stop.
It does not matter that Ruutu, Hollweg, and everyone else were not hurt because of Simon’s actions. They are one bunch of lucky ducks. If Simon’s stick was two inches lower, Hollweg could have easily been killed. If Simon’s skate had been an inch or two to the left, Ruutu could have easily seen his season or career slip away.
I agree with Matt – both of them: Why on earth is this guy still around? Why does the PA put up with this, allowing this one mediocre player run around and hurt other players?
The Blackhawks’ President said earlier this week that he doesn’t want the violence out of the game because that would hurt business and whatever. But tell me this: if someone is killed because of his excessive violence and absolute lack of respect, how will the league benefit? Not ALL attention is good attention.
Even violent sports like boxing and MMA have very strict codes and rules that say what you can and cannot do to your opponent, and if you break those rules, you hear about it from everyone – including your peers.
In the NHL though, you stomp on someone’s foot and they say you’re a nice, nice, nice guy.
If you punch someone from behind, jump on them and break his neck, we all blame the guy who can’t play anymore, especially since he’s suing the guy who hit him (now with the Ducks).
What is wrong with this picture?
The game itself is violent enough. I like the big (clean) body checks and the hockey fights, as do most who watch the game. Yeah, injuries will happen that way, but what we don’t need are the cowardly, dirty incidents that will one day leave someone dead on the ice. What will everyone say then?
“But he’s a nice, nice, nice guy”????
DaBich
Dec 22, 10:16 PM
I wonder, if Ted Nolan pissed Simon off, and Simon punches him, is Simon STILL gonna be a nice, nice, nice guy? Will his suspension still be excessive?
This is a very UNSTABLE animal….err…person we are talking about here. I don’t think he belongs in the NHL any longer, and it’s high time the league recognizes this fact.
Great article, Matt!
Matt Bodenschatz
Dec 24, 12:30 AM
Thanks for the comments and compliments. I really don’t see how anyone can defend someone who has repeatedly made the same mistakes. Quite obviously, Simon has not yet learned his lesson, despite being suspended six times before, including the longest suspension in NHL history that just concluded two months ago. The NHL really needs to implement some sort of three strikes and you’re out rule. They also need some sort of better formula for determining suspension length.
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