Wow. I just watched the video. As a Canucks fan I have followed both the Bertuzzi-Moore thing and the McSorley-Brashear thing but this one is in a league of it's own. Just considering this incident, without comparison to other incidents, I can't imagine anything more blatant. It was flat out a deliberate attempt to use the stick as a weapon to hurt Hellweg. Simon lined him up and sung hard at him with the shaft of the stick. It wasn't like the stick came up along with hands in a punch. It was like he was swinging a kendo stick. It was vicious. I would go out on a limb and say it was more deliberate and more vicious than Bertuzzi's attack on Steve Moore. The difference is that I really don't think Bertuzzi meant to cause the degree of injuries he did. I think he meant to beat Moore with his fists.

What should happen to Simon? He should definitely be suspended for the rest of the season and beyond, including the entire next season, at a minimum. A lifetime ban from NHL hockey? Probably. I don't think that has ever been done before. McSorley's suspension pretty much ended his career due to his age but that doesn't count. If the NHL is going to ban someone for life, is this the incident that should set the precedent? I don't have an answer. I'm just thinking out loud. As far as criminal charges go, that's another ball of wax altogether.

Thoughts?

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