Appropriate Punishment

On Thursday night, New York Islander's player Chris Simon used a two-handed stick attack against New York Ranger Ryan Hollweg. He caught him on the chin, which caused a cut requiring several stitches. While the written word makes the attack seem not too terribly bad, the video suggests otherwise. Hollweg could have been very seriously injured in what was a retaliatory act by Simon. Hollweg had hit Simon just moments before and 'got away' without receiving a penalty for what he did. In some ways, you can say that Simon was just defending himself, but it is very hard to justify what he did, and in no way excuses him. Simon was suspended indefinitely and had a hearing earlier today to determine what punishment he will, ultimately, receive. No decision has been announced. Most opinions are that he will miss the rest of the season and at least some of the playoff games. His suspension may be even longer. I don't know what would be appropriate punishment and am happy I don't have to make the decision.

In past years, when a player would make a cheap hit on another player, as Hollweg did to Simon, the hittee would challenge the hitter--the sticks would fall to the ice, the gloves would come off, and there would be a shoving and boxing match. FIGHT, FIGHT! Today, in the 'new NHL,' fighting is discouraged very much. This, IMO, keeps players from 'blowing off some steam' and sets the stage for retaliation--such as what Simon did. Fighting has always been a part of hockey and it seems as if the 'powers that be' listen to non-fans or new fans when it comes to demands to ban fighting. Long-time, true hockey fans understand fights--and, for the most part, don't mind them. The majority of fights don't do any harm to the players--they just have too much padding and the majority of 'fighting' is a lot of pushing, pulling, and not particularly hard punches. The players get it out of their system, get some penalty minutes assessed, and play on. Case closed. Today when a player is disrespected--whether actual or imagined--he can let it get under his skin and it can boil up and become a very serious problem. If a player has a short fuse, he can cause some serious damage to another player, and that is NOT what the game of hockey needs. Too much messing with the game of hockey is hurting it--and if it is to survive, the 'powers that be' must leave well enough alone before it is irreparably damaged.