The Islanders haven’t gotten word on how long Chris Simon will be out following his takedown and stomping of Pittsburgh agitator Jarkko Ruutu, but Ruslan Fedotenko hopes it’s not too long.
Although Fedotenko is a teammate of Simon – who had his hearing with the league in Toronto yesterday – he also was on the receiving end of a cross-check to the face followed by a pummeling from Simon in January, 2004 that resulted in a two-game suspension.
“I remember I hit him pretty hard and I’m sure he didn’t like that,” said Fedotenko, who was with Tampa Bay at the time while Simon was on the Rangers. “Sometimes, emotions take over and you just react. It’s not a big deal. It’s part of hockey. I hope to see him soon.”
As for the cross-check, Fedotenko said, “I was kind of expecting that, I saw him coming.”
Despite Fedotenko’s apparent forgiving nature, Simon likely won’t be back for some time. The Isles, who have already excused Simon from the team and plan to get him counseling, play their first game without him tonight when they host the Sabres. As much as Ted Nolan is concerned with Simon’s fate and what his absence means to the team, he made it clear they have other significant problems.
“The players play the way they do and we let them do it,” Nolan said of their recent sloppiness. “Now, it’s a merit system. It doesn’t matter who you are, you’ve got to perform, play hard. If you don’t, somebody else will. If you compete and play hard you’ll play, if you don’t you’ll just sit and watch.”
After meeting with the team, he singled out several Islanders who he hasn’t been pleased with. Still, he doesn’t anticipate making any changes – yet.
“Hopefully not,” Nolan said. “We have faith in this group. You need your best players to be your best players. We need [Mike] Comrie, we need Bill Guerin, we need Fedotenko. It’s not added pressure, just the responsibility of that line. Andy Sutton, [Bryan] Berard, [Marc-Andre] Bergeron need to play better.”Miro Satan (flu) didn’t practice, but is expected to play tonight.