Time for Ted to Show Up (Part Deux)
It's time for Ted to show up...once and for all. If he's not going to help improve the Isles on the Ice, then he's got to at least help them off the ice. And that starts with cutting Chris Simon for his inexcusable selfish attack on Pittsburgh's Jarkko Ruutu. Chris Simon has now clearly established that he goes by the motto "I only do what's good for me." And even worse than a selfish agenda is a one that involves continuous deliberate attempts to injure other players.
Chris Simon has cost the Isles two inter-division games with blatantly dangerous attacks. Last season he declared himself a lumberjack as he attempted to decapitate Ryan Hollweg of the Rags in a tied game late last season. The points lost in that game (as the Rags scored on the ensuing 5 minute major) probably should have cost the Isles the season. Less than one year later, Simon has found himself in a similar situation. He cost the team a comeback attempt, and lost the respect of his entire organization. By using the bottom of his skate as a weapon, Simon should not only be banned from hockey, but he should face criminal charges for his attack with a deadly weapon.
And that's that. Chris Simon should be banned from hockey, although he probably won't. Colin Campbell will probably issue more than the 25 that Simon received last season being that he's a repeat offender. But that shouldn't matter, as the Isles need to immediately cut ties with Simon. If not, the Isles risk losing fans who might have a hard time cheering on an organization that condones vicious attempts to inflict bodily harm on other players. And if Simon ever dons an Isles jersey again, that's exactly what the Isles will be doing--condoning violence on the ice.
It's time for Ted to step up and say that he was wrong. It's time for him to say that he made a mistake when he persuaded Garth Snow to bring Simon back after last season's incident. It's time for Ted to admit that Chris Simon's NHL career is not worth fixing. It's time for Ted to step up and be a man.
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28 comments:
Justin, I could not agree more. Once again, Nolan exhibits a serious lack of judgement.
Hopefully, Wang will step in. He is far too savvy a businessman to not know that fans are fed up with Simon's antics.
I also hope that this will be the beginning of the end of the Nolan era.
Ted has made ridiculous personnel decisions all season long. Now that Simon will be suspended, Jackman should go and take Hibert with him.
I want to see Tambellini, Walter, Comeau and Neilsen on this team right now.
Where the fu** is Garth Snow. He has to know that it is all falling apart and that he needs to do something while the season is still salvageable.
Except for Ottawa, everyone else is in the hunt. With a few good moves, the Isles could still win the division.
How long until Snow starts acting like a real GM? Use the Simon incident to fire Ted and replace him with Bryan Trottier. Perhaps then, we would see some life injected into this dead team.......Bill
According to Bridgeport's blogger, Comeau was called up after yesterday's game.
It doesn't make much sense to keep Simon around after this. It just makes the Islanders look bad. It's not like he was bringing anything to the ice to warrant keeping him around any longer. I'm not sure what the CBA rules are about releasing guys that are suspended, etc.
I wish there was a way to edit comments.
Also in that guy's blog, he said that Trottier was behind the bench in Bridgeport. It didn't really go into detail as to what he was doing, just that he was in town for the weekend and was behind the bench and one of the assistants was moved up to the press box.
Well, as I predicted in my above post, Wang met with Simon today and granted him a "leave" from the team.
Wang had to do this and the TSN report actually mentioned Garth Snow.
Snow lives!!!!....Bill
I hope Wang's comment about Simon returning to the team when he is completely ready, isn't true.
I have a feeling any chance of Simon returning to the team won't matter when we hear the ruling...1+ year is my guess. Even according to Wang, Simon needs to show he's "better". What does "better" mean in this case? That he doesn't go around NYC and stomp people randomly? We don't know if he's "better" until he's out on the ice, and that is not something this team needs.
He brings nothing to the table scoring, assists, hitting, leadership, defense, or fighting (ok, a little fighting, but thats replaceable). In otherwords, he's useless. His time is up, let him go.
Anyone know what the cap implications are for a released player? Do the Isles still have to pay him, and does his $450,000 count against the cap? I imagine when you do somethign to injure another player, there might be a clause in the contract against that. Especially Simon...
Here on some excerpts from ESPN...
"And for a player who is supposed to be as physical as Simon is, the guy has a measly 12 hits, averaging not even one hit for every two games he plays."
"And the best thing about it is, suspending Simon wouldn't even cost the Islanders much in lost salary. That's because of his $800,000 stipend for this season, the Islanders have already paid $325,000 as a bonus for Simon playing five games. With 76 of the 187 days of the season already accounted for, the Islanders have to pay Simon just $282,000 for the rest of the season. He's also eligible for $100,000 in bonuses for scoring 10 and 15 goals, but it's unlikely Simon would be able to find enough time out from abusing people to be able to score that many."
I'm telling you, if Simon ever steps on the ice again in an Isles' uniform, I will lose all respect for the Isles organization.
It's sad that this incident is probably a blessing in disguise b/c it forces Nolan to remove Simon from the lineup and replace him with a better younger player.
Maybe with this relapse of Simon's insanity will we see Snow be more in charge of personal rather then Nolan.
I was at the game on Sat and I had a gut feeling we were about to tie the game then the genius Simon decides to put us on the kill the rest of the game. Even with 4 players on the ice we seemed to have a step on Pitt but with that 1 less skater we were unable to bank in on that. The new fourth line of Jackman-Park-Comeau should be fun to watch as Jackman looked like he was actually doing what we brought Simon back to do...check people.
Well, Ted stepped up alright. Right to Simon's defense!!
Time for both to go.....Bill
Did anyone read Eck's Islander blogger (BD Galloff) latest muse.
May as well have been a press release. I wrote hima a reply:
BD Still enjoying that Islander Kool Aid, I see. In plain speak, what the Islander management did is called "damage control." Skip the hearts and flowers. Wang is a smart businessman and knew that he had a nightmare on his hands. So, what did he do? He pulled the old "Treatment and Counseling" trick out of the press agent playbook.
The perfect way to avoid the avalanche of bad publicity and unsold tickets that were heading the Islanders way. Poor Chris Simon. He needs help and we are here for him.
What a crock. At least let us know if the Kool Aid is grape, cherry or lemon-lime..............Bill
From a personal perspective, I respect Wang & Nolan's decision to support Simon through this. I doubt he's going to play again this season (or ever), which in reality, is punishment enough. What purpose does it serve to abandon him entirely now? Nothing. He's a person, he made a mistake, and he needs to pay. But hitting someone while they're down isn't a good thing.
We're all to quick to jump on professional athletes because they did something wrong, but we often forget they're people too, who make mistakes. Sometimes 7 of them. Support Simon as a person, ensure he gets his punishment, and move forward. This too will pass.
From a competitive standpoint, I hope he's out for the season. He was wortheless on the ice, and brought nothing but "friendship" apparently. Enough of that. Lets see what Comeau can do.
NYISLES SAID "But hitting someone while they're down isn't a good thing."
Isn't that what Simon did to cause all this?........Bill
Touche Bill, touche.
I'm still torn about this whole thing. I couldn't stand Simon on the ice. Ironically, I had a long conversation with my dad about how he needs to go, I believe last Wednesday. However, I don't know the correct adminstratitive move with him. Hindsight will help be answer that question I guess...
Reading the Newsday blog I see a lot of people who "no longer respect the Islanders", and will "no longer support them" because Wang says he will consider taking Simon back if he "gets better". Thats just ridiculous. What Simon did was horrible, but come on...this type of stuff happens a lot, and teams take players back after much worse. We have football players who were indicted for MURDER or dealing drugs allowed to come back, and welcomed by their teams. This shouldn't be another reason to bash the Isles.
Maybe this is will light a fire under the rest of the team. This team needs a turning point; and maybe it doesn't have to come on the ice. If everyone really likes Simon this much, then perhaps they can "play for Chris", and maybe Comrie will play defense. And score. And win. 3 in a row puts us well into the playoff mix in the East...
Missing the game again tonight...but here's to a win!
30 game suspension for Simon
Way too little. The guy needs a year off.
30 games means he's coming back this season, which will be so bad for the team. Simon isn't going to HELP this team in any way, and will only serve as a distraction from playing well. Not only will the team hear boo's from Rags fans, but from everyone they play.
How can Tamby, Berard, MAB be benched for extended periods of time for making defensive gaffs, and Simon is rewarded for on-ice thuggery with 1st line minutes and get-out-of-jail-free cards??
Here's to hoping those comments of support and acceptance by Wang & Nolan are only PR talk, and we won't see Simon back this season.
I have a feeling we won't see Simon ever again. He just doesn't fit into the Isles long term plan this season or any future season. By the time Simon returns we will either be (1) in the mix for a playoff spot, or (2) well out of it in the East.
As per...
(1) If the Isles are still in the playoff mix 30 games from now then the Isles would have played pretty good hockey for a good stretch of time. The pack might separate over that time and if the Isles are hanging in there that would assure a turnaround of at least the struggles lingering today.
(2) If the Isles are out if it 30 games from now, then the Isles will be looking to shed veterans with one year deals while giving the younger players a ton of minutes.
Overall, Simon has no place on this team today, or the one that exists 30 games from now.
Somebody linked this at hockeybuzz.
http://www.gopherpucklive.com/viewtopic.php?p=191068#191068
There is a rumor going around that Okposo is going to sign with the Islanders, and it's going to be announced either today or tomorrow. I'm sure he'd still play at the World Jr. tournament, so he probably wouldn't actually play with the Islanders until after New Years.
It's semi-official, Minnesota has scheduled a 5PM press conference to announce that Okposo has left the team. Okposo is still trying to work out a deal with the Islanders.
Bill Guerin on Chris Simon- “Everybody’s making it out to be just about Chris Simon. He’s had his incidents, but he’s not the only guy in the league that has done something like this.
Hey “captain” “Everybody’s making it out to be just about Chris Simon” well that’s because it is all about Chris Simon!!! Other people have done stupid things; however they haven’t come back and continue to try to injure other players. Simon should never get the honor of putting on an NHL jersey again. Simon has had incident and incident. To think after his cowardly attack of Hollweg last March he would do something else to try to injure another player is mind boggling. I have never heard of someone trying to step on another play before. Simon is a coward and should go to jail for his actions. He is very lucky he didn’t permanently injure Jarkko Ruutu. Everyone who has every played the game knows and you never ever use your skate or stick as a weapon. If I ever see him in an Islanders Jersey again I will loose all respect for this franchise. There is absolutely no defending Simon; he shouldn’t have even received the chance to come back this year. (Nolan’s fault) What Bill Guerin said is completely idiotic. Playing in the NHL is a privilege and trying to permanently hurt another player time and time again is completely unacceptable.
Superstar Andy Hilbert just missed another wide open net.
I didn't realize a goalie lying on his side in front of you, constituted a wide open net.
Oddly enough, that blown scoring chance was more than Tambellini had in 8 games.
The islanders outplayed the Sabers the entire game and somehow still managed to loose. Ted Nolan is possibly the worst coach in the NHL. His line choices continue to get worse and worse every night. I am a big fan of Richard Park and I like how he crashes the net; however you can’t have him on the power play. What a terrible move by Nolan to sit both Bergeron and Berard. You can’t sit both these players when you are having trouble scoring goals on the power play. Why don’t you sit Hilbert because he can’t put the puck into an empty net and doesn’t contribute? Great job tonight Mike Sillinger on loosing a key face off at the end of the game when Vasicek should have been on the rink. Sillinger you get slower and slower every night. Its time for you to hang up the skates. Bill Guerin why don’t you stop worrying about people talking about the coward Chris Simon and worry about your own play. Bill you become invisible night after night. Overall the effort was their tonight. We worked really hard and Miller stole the game. However, Buffalo is not a very good hockey team. I said it nearly a month ago. The Islanders can’t score goals and that makes them a bad team.
Another note..Freddy Meyer’s who shouldn’t have been in the lineup tonight contributed to the Islander loss by taking a penalty and allowing Afinogenov to score just as the penalty expired.
SABRES-ISLES
How good did Comeau and Bergy play tonight? It just goes to show that some of these kids may have a future if the coach would only give them some solid ice time.
I would like to see a line of Walter-Park-Comeau. It was obvious that Jackman could not keep up with
Park and Comeau.
Sit Jackman and bring up Walter.
Hilbert missed two opportunities with only the goaltender to beat.
Shink, this guy must be related to you, the way you defend him.
He is awful and hopefully Tambellini and Walter will be replacing Hilbert and Jackman soon.
No matter how you slice it, if you are relying on Brendan Witt for your only goal, then you need help.
This team is a total offensive failure and Snow/Nolan can't sit on this much longer.
I saw lots of fans disguised as empty seats tonight. Can you imagine what it will be like in Feb. when this team is 14 points out of the playoffs?
Okposo will sign, but he is not the answer this year. He is a boy in a mans body. He does not possess the skill of a Crosby or Malkin and cannot step right into the line up. He will take a year or so of AHL time before he is ready.
In the meantime Walter and Tambellini watch as Hilbert and Jackman contribute nothing but zero's.
Gatrh Snow lives!!! He came out of hiding to support that slug Simon.
He was better of in seclusion.....Bill
Bill, how is putting Tambellini on the fourth line going to change the fact that we get ZERO production from our first line? What exactly did Tambellini contribute while he was up here except for zeros? Even Jackman was able to get an assist.
The 2nd, 3rd and 4th lines aren't the problem, it's the first line. So until we find someone that can play on the first line, we are going to continue to struggle scoring goals. They aren't going to win many games when Hilbert and Comeau are the only forwards generating scoring chances.
Hilbert very rarely generates scoring chances and when he does he doesn’t score anyways. Hilbert can’t finish! I don’t understand how he is still in the NHL. He can’t score and is completely worthless to this team. However, Hilbert is one of the Islander’s smallest problems. The forwards aren’t talented enough. It’s really as simple as that. Last night we worked hard on every shift and generated a lot of shots, but we simply don’t have the talent to score goals. We have zero first line players on this team. Clearly Okopso isn’t a Malkin or Crosby, but I do think he could help contribute right now. I would normally agree with you Bill and say he should play in the AHL for a year, but I believe he could really help the Islanders generate some more offense. He is definitely more talented then a lot of forwards on this team. Hopefully after this tournament he will go straight to the NHL and take a roster spot of Jackman or we can hope Hilbert. (Even though that won’t happen) Another advantage of brining him up is letting him get used to the fast pace of the NHL. Even if Okoposo comes to the NHL he definitely won’t be the Islanders savoir. The season is lost once again.
I'm kind of torn with Okposo. One hand I think he'd benefit from playing the entire year in Bridgeport. On the other hand, I don't think the Islanders would sign him now if they didn't think he could play. I think he's just as good as Mueller and Backstrom and they both play on their team's second line (PHX/WAS).
He may start in Bridgeport for 5-10 games, but it wouldn't surprise me if he ended up taking Hilbert's spot on the third line. It would be a good line for him to play on. There wouldn't be any pressure for him to score and he'd be playing with two veterans, one of whom (Hunter) plays a pretty similar style.
Bill - I was thinking about the prospects today and you are starting to sway my thinking. I still don't think they should play, but a month from now if we are pretty close to being out of the playoffs, we should just get rid of the dead weight and play the kids.
I can think of several young players whose careers were sidelinded by the Islanders. Tim Connoly, Jokinnen, Luongo and even Bertuzzi were all rushed to the big club before they were ready. Several lost confidence and it took a change of teams for them to reacquire their self worth back.
Leave Okposo in the AHL to develope where he belongs. Rushing him up this season is not going to change what is basically wrong with this team and probably will do more harm than good.
Shink, I don't want to see Tambellini of the 4 th line. I would like to see him on the 3 rd line in Hilberts spot. Hilbert does not deserve to be on this team anymore than Simon or Jackman does.
Guerrin-Tank-Comrie
Satan-Joe V-Bergy
Sillinger-Hunter-Tambellini
Walter-Comeau-Park
Does that look so bad to you? It looks better than the sad sacks we see out there every night. Anyone else agree or disagree?...............Bill
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