Chris Simon pulls a Bertuzzi

Over at NHL Digest Lyle has posted the video of last night's brutal attack by Chris Simon on Ryan Hollweg.

UPDATE: Chris Simon has been suspended indefinitely by the NHL according to TSN.

Just how stupid can an NHL player be? After the Chris Neil hit on Chris Drury, which precipitated the Ray Emery vs Martin Biron fight, and the Cam Jannsen hit on Tomas Kaberle you would think that players in the NHL would be a little more aware that the League is looking at actions intended to injure other players a little more closely.

This incident brings to mind the Marty McSorley attack on Donald Brasher, you can refresh your memory below.





If that piece of history doesn't chill your bones nothing will. What you should also remember is that this incident effectively ended the NHL career of Marty McSorley. He received a suspension for the remainder of the NHL season (23 games) for his actions which was then extended to February of the following season and never played in the NHL again.

More recently the Todd Bertuzzi blind side attack on Steve Moore brings back some chilling memories as well.




Note the reference at the end of the video to the McSorley incident. Bertuzzi also received a suspension for the remainder of the NHL season (and playoffs) and was then extended to 17 months (partially due to the NHL lockout) and banned Bertuzzi from playing anywhere during that time.

It will be extremely interesting to see what the NHL decides to do with Chris Simon. With the example of the McSorley and Bertuzzi incidents I think we can bank on Simon being gone for the rest of the season, and we can probably expect some legal ramifications as well. The only good news here is that Ryan Hollweg seems to have survived the attack in good shape and expects to play the Rangers next game.

My prediction? Simon is gone for the year and the playoffs and will likely be suspended for a good amount of next season as well. Hopefully for life.

The timing for the NHL couldn't be better, with all the attention being focused on the issue of intent to injure this is a perfect chance for the NHL to state unequivocally that they will not tolerate actions like this.

My Hope? Bye bye Chris Simon, we won't miss you at all.

On a fantasy hockey note, pencil Sunday March, 25th into your calendars. That is the next time that the Rangers face the Islanders. I think we can expect some fireworks for that game.