Thoughts from the Rypien Incident

As many of you probably know by now, there was an altercation between Vancouver Canucks center Rick Rypien and a fan as he was leaving the ice during a game against the Minnesota Wild.  The NHL acted quickly and suspended him indefinitely, pending a hearing.

Here is the video for those who have no idea what I'm talking about (and if you haven't seen it, I'm quite frankly surprised, since this somehow made its way onto a Kansas City news broadcast):




Before I get into how I feel about the incident, I would like to acknowledge that I am a Canucks fan (you probably already knew that) and Rypien is one of my favorite players on the team.  That said, I am disappointed with his actions, grabbing the fan as he was leaving the area.  Looking at the footage, all the fan was really doing was clapping, and not even in a manner that would be considered provokable.  Do I think Rypien crossed a line?  Yes.  Also of note is the fact that Rypien didn't do much more than just grab the fan, which makes the fan's idea of considering legal action ridiculous.  The NHL was right to act quickly on the matter, since the Canucks were to play the following day and didn't want Rypien out on the ice before a definitive decision was reached.  Suspension (I would say 10 games would be okay, no more than 12) and a fine are all the actions that should be taken, and nothing more.  In addition, I would like to hear Rypien's side of the story (just to get an idea) and an apology to the fan would more than be sufficient on his end.