The Islanders knew they would be without Chris Simon for a long time, but coach Ted Nolan still was surprised when he learned the forward was suspended for 30 games by the league, the most in NHL history, for stomping on Pittsburgh’s Jarkko Ruutu on Saturday.
“It’s excessive,” Nolan said before the Isles lost 2-1 to the Sabres last night at Nassau Coliseum, when Maxim Afinogenov gave Buffalo the lead with 2:17 left in the third, despite the Isles having a 43-17 shot advantage.
But that wasn’t the only thing that drew the coach’s ire regarding Simon, who already had been granted a leave of absence.
During a conference call yesterday, league disciplinarian Colin Campbell, who levied the penalty, implied that Simon, a recovering alcoholic, was going to seek alcohol and drug abuse, in addition to the behavioral counseling the Islanders already said he would undergo.
Team officials confirmed that drugs and alcohol were not involved in Simon’s departure and that Campbell misspoke. He later called Islanders GM Garth Snow to clear the air.
“It’s easy saying sorry when there [are] no repercussions for it,” Nolan said when told of the call.
The coach was livid about the initial comment.
“It’s sickening,” the coach said of Campbell’s mistake. “He’s the spokesperson for the league and for him to come out and say that about Chris Simon is very disturbing.”
Nolan is particularly close to Simon. Both are Native Canadians who have fought addiction.
“Chris is a First Nation and has a drinking problem,” Nolan said. “It’s a stereotypical comment to say about ethnic races. . . . For Colin Campbell to come out and say something like that, it’s idiotic.”
None of that changes the fact, however, that Simon won’t be active again until Feb. 21, when the Isles play Tampa Bay. It’s the seventh suspension of his 15-year career, and he has now served the two longest, because he also was banned for 25 games last year after hitting Ryan Hollweg with his stick.
“While fortunate Mr. Ruutu suffered no serious injury as a result of Chris Simon’s actions, the deliberate act of kicking an opponent with a skate blade, especially when that opponent is in a vulnerable position, is and always has been a repugnant and totally unacceptable act in the game of hockey,” Campbell said in a statement.
Nolan wouldn’t rule out the possibility that Simon could be out even longer than 30 games.
“I can never predict what’s gonna happen down the road,” Nolan said.
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Minnesota sophomore forward Kyle Okposo is leaving college to sign with the Islanders, the school announced yesterday. Okposo was selected seventh overall in the 2006 draft.