Wisniewski Suspended 2 Games for "Slide Whistle Lessons"

I'm sure you've all seen it by now. It was on the front page of ESPN, has been covered on various local and national media outlets, and the print media as well. But in case you missed it (or are like me and want to watch it over and over again) here it is:



Fantastic.

In the classic movie "Mighty Ducks II" Richard Park Kenny Wu gets a penalty and as he's skating to the box says: "Two minutes, well worth it." When James Wisniewski returns to the Islanders lineup (at home, nonetheless)on Saturday, I think he'll agree that a two game suspension was well worth it. What you're looking at is the rise of a cult hero on Long Island folks. I already posted the hit he threw in the first game against the Stars. He also had a goal and an assist in that game. In the Rangers game he had an assist, and of course, The Gesture ™. Here's what I anticipate a conversation will be like at the Nassau Coliseum in the near future:

Rangers Fan: Hey, remember when Theo Fleury did that chicken dance? He showed you guys!
Islanders Fan: Yeah! Hey, remember when James Wisniewski told Sean Avery to ram a kielbasa down his esophagus?

Sean Avery is probably the second most hated person to take the ice at the Coliseum in recent years, barely behind Darcy Tucker and only slightly ahead of Alexei Yashin (if Colin Campbell ever had the cajones to put on a pair of skates again, he'd immediately leapfrog to the top of this list and we'd burn it in his honor. But more on that in a minute.) For Wisniewski to come in and have such a memorable moment in his first Islanders-Rangers game is going to go a long way with Islanders fans (no pun intended).

Now, I'm not necessarily defending Wisniewski. What he did was inappropriate, and worthy of a suspension. However, I'd bet my Star Wars action figures (except Boba Fett...no matter how sure I am I never risk the Fett man) that Sean Avery said something to incite the action.  Remember the 2006 World Cup? You know, when that French guy headbutted that Italian guy? (I also heard a soccer game was played, but I can't confirm this). Seriously though when Zidane headbutted Materazzi, earning himself a red card while essentially costing France the World Cup, no one could fathom why he would do such a thing. For days, all we heard was how Zidane lost his cool for no reason. Well, we found out later that Materazzi called Zidane's sister a 'ho. So is it really that much of a stretch to think that Sean "Sloppy Seconds" Avery probably said something inappropriate first? Well, let's see what Doug Weight has to say:

Wiz is a good guy and it certainly wasn't a one-way street," Weight said. "The things that come out of some people's mouth on the ice . . . They say all's fair in love and war, but I don't know about that. You play hard, once in a while you are going to throw out some expletives and challenge guys in different ways. But the stuff that starts in warm-ups is ridiculous, and I don't think there's room for it in any line of work. But it happens and you have to be able to react to those things in this game and you can't let it bother you.

Ignoring the "things that come out of people's mouth" line, it looks like Doug is saying that there was some chatter from the other side as well. Which is to be expected. Did Wisniewski handle himself like an adult? No. But I can understand him getting caught up in the heat of the moment.

And now it comes back to Colin Campbell, Czar of Discipline. I already said Wizniewski deserves to be suspended. He should have gotten ONE GAME. I don't want to rant against Soupy too much here, because this week on the Sin Bin blog, we'll be playing "Guess The Suspension." We'll post a video of a suspendable action, and you get to guess how many games the player got. Needless to say, in looking at some of the past suspensions that Campbell has handed down, two games is ridiculous.

So Wiz gets double the penalty he should have gotten. He'll sit tonight against the Capitals, and Friday against the Penguins. Still, when his name is announced Saturday night and he gets a standing ovation, I think he'll tell you it was worth it.