Isles' Simon on leave after incident with Pens' Ruutu

By Keith Barnes
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, December 18, 2007


New York Islanders forward Chris Simon was given an undefined leave of absence from the team Monday in the wake of his latest attack on an opponent. Simon was given a match penalty for intent to injure and a game misconduct Saturday after he tripped Penguins forward Jarkko Ruutu near the bench with less than six minutes to go in regulation. After getting Ruutu on the ice, Simon drove his right skate down on the back of Ruutu's skate boot. Simon was given a 25-game suspension that carried over into the first five games of this season after swinging a stick and hitting New York Rangers forward Ryan Hollweg in the head. If he is suspended, it will be for the seventh time in his career.

• There are a lot of players who would like to take a stick to the face of Ruutu. He is, after all, one of the best agitators in the NHL. Too bad they missed practice yesterday. Ruutu was helped off after he was inadvertently hit in the face with a stick. He had a laceration under his eye and went to see a doctor to get stitches. He is not expected to miss any time.



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