TORONTO -- The images are brutal.
The swing of the stick, the contact near the head, Rangers forward Ryan Hollweg collapsing to the ice, Islanders forward Chris Simon standing over him.
It's a scene that brings back memories of dark days for the NHL, of some of the most brutal recent incidents in the game ... Marty McSorley hitting Donald Brashear in the head, Todd Bertuzzi driving his fist into the head of Steve Moore from behind.
That Simon hit Hollweg with his stick on the anniversary of the Bertuzzi-Moore incident just makes it even more painful for the game of hockey.
The incident brought back stark memories for Senators enforcer Brian McGrattan.
McGrattan was playing for the Guelph Storm of the OHL in a playoff game in the spring of 1998 when Jesse Boulerice of the Plymouth Whalers used his stick to hit Guelph's Andrew Long in the face.
Boulerice was suspended for the following season.
Long's career was ended.
Perhaps more than many of his peers, McGrattan understands the impact of a couple of seconds of irrationality.
He saw a teammate's life irreparably bludgeoned.
"I could feel that one," McGrattan said of seeing the Simon incident, "because I've seen it happen before. It ruined (Long's) career. He was never the same. Careers can be changed. Careers can be ruined. Lives can be changed. It can cost you a lot of money or something else.
"Sometimes in the heat of the game, you lose it for a couple of seconds ... you just have to pay attention to that. Lucky for Hollweg he just got a cut on his chin, lucky it wasn't worse than it was."
After a day filled with images of Bertuzzi driving Moore's face into the ice, Simon provided the highlight reels with a fresh black eye for the NHL.
"It's not what we want in our game. It's not for me to pre-judge him. The league will do that, I'm sure, in its manner. I don't think it's something that should have happened, ever, in our game," said Senators coach Bryan Murray, who likes hard-nosed hockey.
"I don't know that you have to get that angry with another player. (Simon) got hit, it was a tough hit, but it wasn't a vicious hit. It's disappointing it happened within our game because we know it will be the highlight of the day in the United States."
As reckless, brutal and violent as Simon's act is, as much as it crosses the bounds, Senators players understood how it could happen.
"It's an emotional game and sometimes crazy things happen," said centre Mike Fisher. "Obviously, you don't want to see people get hurt. It's going to happen from time to time. It's a fast game and guys get upset and angry."
"It was a pretty vicious hit. I was surprised to see it," said defenceman Wade Redden. "You're asking guys to walk the line especially in a playoff fight. You've got Chris, who's a fierce competitor, who I think is pretty honest and plays pretty hard. A real tough guy, but guys walk that line for so long. Guys get over it and cross the line. It's good that (Hollweg) wasn't hurt too badly.
"There have been incidents over the years that were probably a lot worse than that. It's always been a game of fierce competitors and guys who are willing to do almost anything to win. Unfortunately, there are going to be incidents and you hate to see them happen, but when guys are fighting for their jobs or doing everything they can to win, things are going to happen. You have to be responsible for what you do out there and you have to face the consequences."
They will be dire for Simon.
HEAR AND THERE: The Maple Leafs got good news yesterday as D Tomas Kaberle rode a stationary bike. It's his first exercise since taking that late hit from New Jersey's Cam Janssen. If Kaberle doesn't suffer any symptoms, he could be skating again in a week.
THE BUZZ: Senators D Chris Phillips had a day off yesterday from practice, but said he is okay and will play tonight. "He came to me after the game (Thursday) night and he was a little sore. He just asked if he could go in, get treatment and I was more than happy to let him have the day off," said Murray ... Phillips, meanwhile, said there are no new developments in his contract talks with the club, though the two sides continue to talk.
REVELATIONS: Nobody got the Senators pay-per-view telecast of Thursday night's game for free apparently. Thousands of Bell ExpressVu subscribers got the Senators' first PPV event Dec. 12 for free after a glitch in the system. "Everything was good," said Senators VP of broadcasting Jim Steel. "Apparently Rogers' quality of signal was not up to par according to some people, so we've asked Rogers to look into it." Steel said the Senators wouldn't know for a week how many people bought the game.
