Simon the Barbarian struck again. Not to say I told you so, but I told you so. When you let a brainless maniac like Chris Simon keep playing you are asking for trouble and the lunatic was more than happy to provide it.
This time it came in the form of a stomp. Simon bumped Jarkko Ruutu in the Isles Penguins game and then tried to slice the Pens pest's leg open by stepping on him. Check it out:
and a better view here:
Its inexcusable, inexplicable, and utterly insane. The Barbarian has been suspended what, six times? This intent to inure should be the last straw. On CBC, P.J. Stock said that Simon should be suspended the rest of the year. I will go a step farther and call for a ban from professional hockey.
I love rough and tumble hockey. I love fighting in hockey. There is a code of honour that keeps it civil. Simon does not go by any code. He steps onto the ice with the intent to hurt other players. There is no room for that in the game. There is no excuse for the NHL to not ban him for at least the rest of the season, if not the rest of his career.
And for all of the rave reviews of the Islanders Blog Box, from the 14 links on their website, only two bloggers appeared to be at the game (several haven't been updated in over a week), and only one addressed it and posted the slo-mo YouTube above. I know its sad that the Isles can't get paying customers in, but now they can't even give away free media passes?? Pathetic
