Chris Simon vs Tie Domi on January 6, 1996

Chris Simon vs Tie Domi on January 6, 1996

Don Cherry talks about Simon-Ruutu incident

I found this clip of Hockey Night in Canada with Don Cherry talking about the Chris Simon stepping on Jarkko Ruutu incident (see video below). And I have to kind of agree with him. These guys (players like Ruutu who do cheap/dirty/unsportsmanlike things) don't have any fear of being taken to task for what they do because of the instigator rule. If the instigator rule wasn't there I think you wouldn't see guys like Ruutu doing much of their stuff that they usually do, because then enforcers like Chris Simon could go after them and pound in their face, which Simon should have done anyways rather than trying to step/kick Ruutu.

What do you think?

Chris Simon tries to cut Jarkko Ruutu

Wow Chris Simon has lost it again. He didn't use his stick this time, rather he used his skate. I only thought I would hear about a hockey player trying to hurt someone with their skate would be on that Adam Sandler movie Happy Gilmore, but on Saturday New York Islanders' Chris Simon kicked/stepped on the side of Jarkko Ruutu's skate, but it looked like he wanted to step on Ruutu's leg but missed. I know Ruutu is a pain in the ass, but you don't use your skate. Just drop your gloves and pound him into the ice or lay him out with a big check, but don't use your skate. I added the video below for you to watch to see for yourself. What do you think Simon was trying to do? And how many games do you think he'll get suspended for?

Chris Simon kicks/steps on Ruutu


Another replay of the incident

Preseason Rangers vs Islanders brawl

In case you missed it earlier this week, the Rangers and Islanders had a preseason games with lots of fights and even a line brawl with the goalies fighting as well. Rick DiPietro and Al Montoya dropped their goalie equipment and had a short fight. Check out the YouTube video below. The NHL season is almost here!

Chris Simon hits Ryan Hollweg with his stick

If you're a hockey fan then you have probably already seen it. Of course I'm talking about the dirty cheapshot by Chris Simon on Ryan Hollweg last night. Simon got hit into the boards by Hollweg and then when Simon got up and saw Hollweg skating near him he swung his stick with two hands at Hollweg up high which caught Hollweg in the mouth/facial area and Hollweg went down to the ice. We haven't seen something like that since the Marty McSorley-Donald Brashear incident I believe. I think Simon will be suspended for a long time for this. What do you think? Will the new NHL make Simon an example for future stuff like this? Since the NHL seems that they want all the rough stuff gone from the game they may suspend Simon for the rest of the season and maybe longer. View the YouTube video of the Simon cheapshot on Hollweg below.

Simon bloodies Fedoruk and Coyotes-Oilers go at it

Last night provided us hockey fans with a few good hockey fights. In the Flyers-Islanders game there were two fights. The first hockey fight was between Todd Fedoruk and Chris Simon. This was a good one with both guys trading some bombs. Simon did land the best punches though as Fedoruk was bleeding after the fight. Decision to Simon in this fight. Watch the Fedoruk-Simon fight below.

Todd Fedoruk vs Chris Simon

The second fight was with Darren Reid vs Aaron Asham. It was all Asham in this one as Reid couldn't get started and Asham finished him pretty quick. In the Coyotes-Oilers game there were three hockey fights, with Nick Boynton getting into two of them. The first fight was between tough guys Josh Gratton and Zack Stortini going at it. Gratton got some good shots on Stortini as Stortini looked like he couldn't handle Gratton. Decision to Gratton. The next fight was between Nick Boynton and Jason Smith. Not much of a fight here, but Boynton stood up for a teammate and went at Smith. Later in the game Jean-Francois Jacques got some revenge for Smith by fighting Boynton and pounding him. Jacques landed at least two big shots that sent Boynton down to the ice and slowly skated to the dressing room. Jacques has had two big fights recently and winning both, against Tollefsen and now Boynton.

Two other fights took place last night. Blue Jackets' Jason Chimera took on Avalanche' Jeff Finger with Chimera getting the edge in that one. In the Red Wings-Blackhawks game there was actually a fight. Brett Lebda and Mikael Holmqvist dropped the gloves and tried to fight but not much happened there.

Rivalries are building back up it seems

Last night we had some old-time hockey with passion and intensity in the games. Most of the games this season have lacked just that. With the playoffs coming teams are playing for their playoff lives.

I have only seen the Flyers-Rangers and Bruins-Sabres fights from last night so I can only comment on those bouts right now. In the Flyers-Rangers game, Mike Richards and Sean Avery went at it after Todd Fedoruk was nailing every Ranger in sight. I gave that one a draw. Later in the game Alexandre Picard fought Aaron Ward with Ward throwing most of the punches, if not all of them. Ward got the decision in that one, but he also hurt his hand in that fight.

In the Bruins-Sabres there were two fights with Jeremy Reich vs Adam Mair, and Andrew Ference vs Jochen Hecht. Both scraps were spirited and both looked to be draws. I might give an edge to Reich in his fight but Mair landed some at the end of the fight. Hecht landed one huge punch on Ference, but that was after Ference layed a bunch of consecutive punches on Hecht's noggin.

You can download fight clips of both of those fights here. You can watch the videos below:

Jeremy Reich vs Adam Mair


Andrew Ference vs Jochen Hecht

Update on 02/21/07 at 11:58 PM
I finally got to see the other hockey fights from Saturday night. There were quite a few. The Devils-Islanders game had three fights. First was Cam Janssen and Aaron Asham in a spirited punch-fest. I give that one a draw, watch the video below.

Cam Janssen vs Aaron Asham

Next in the Devils-Islanders game was Mike Rupp vs Drew Fata. Rupp didn't want to fight Chris Simon so he took on the smaller Fata and wailed away on him. Rupp gets the decision in this one, but loses respect by not going with Simon when Simon challenged him. Then there was Chris Simon taking out his frustration on Devils' defenseman Mark Fraser. Simon gets his left hand going and pounds Fraser.

In the chippy and feisty Kings-Ducks game there were a lot of scrums and pushes and shoves, and only one fight occurred in that game. Tom Kostopoulos and Shane O'Brien went at it in a quick bout which had no clear winner. The Lightning and Panthers have had some battles this season and it seems to be turning into a real rivalry. There were two ok fights in their game on Saturday. First there was Nick Tarnasky and Steve Montador going at it in not much of a fight as Montador lost his balance. Later in the game Andre Roy and Alexei Semenov dropped the gloves in a quick fight with Semenov getting in a few good shots on Roy. I would give the edge to Semenov, maybe a draw.