Yes, I did that. if I remove that part I get these errors:
=> loading checkpoint 'model_best.pth.tar'
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "prune.py", line 46, in <module>
    model.load_state_dict(checkpoint['state_dict'])
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.6/dist-packages/torch/nn/modules/module.py", line 721, in load_state_dict
    self.__class__.__name__, "\n\t".join(error_msgs)))
RuntimeError: Error(s) in loading state_dict for simpnet:
	Missing key(s) in state_dict: "features.0.weight", "features.0.bias", "features.1.weight", "features.1.bias", "features.1.running_mean", "features.1.running_var", "features.3.weight", "features.3.bias", "features.4.weight", "features.4.bias", "features.4.running_mean", "features.4.running_var", "features.6.weight", "features.6.bias", "features.7.weight", "features.7.bias", "features.7.running_mean", "features.7.running_var", "features.9.weight", "features.9.bias", "features.10.weight", "features.10.bias", "features.10.running_mean", "features.10.running_var", "features.12.weight", "features.12.bias", "features.13.weight", "features.13.bias", "features.13.running_mean", "features.13.running_var", "features.17.weight", "features.17.bias", "features.18.weight", "features.18.bias", "features.18.running_mean", "features.18.running_var", "features.20.weight", "features.20.bias", "features.21.weight", "features.21.bias", "features.21.running_mean", "features.21.running_var", "features.23.weight", "features.23.bias", "features.24.weight", "features.24.bias", "features.24.running_mean", "features.24.running_var", "features.26.weight", "features.26.bias", "features.27.weight", "features.27.bias", "features.27.running_mean", "features.27.running_var", "features.29.weight", "features.29.bias", "features.30.weight", "features.30.bias", "features.30.running_mean", "features.30.running_var", "features.34.weight", "features.34.bias", "features.35.weight", "features.35.bias", "features.35.running_mean", "features.35.running_var", "features.37.weight", "features.37.bias", "features.38.weight", "features.38.bias", "features.38.running_mean", "features.38.running_var", "features.40.weight", "features.40.bias", "features.41.weight", "features.41.bias", "features.41.running_mean", "features.41.running_var", "classifier.weight", "classifier.bias". 
	Unexpected key(s) in state_dict: "module.features.0.weight", "module.features.0.bias", "module.features.1.weight", "module.features.1.bias", "module.features.1.running_mean", "module.features.1.running_var", "module.features.3.weight", "module.features.3.bias", "module.features.4.weight", "module.features.4.bias", "module.features.4.running_mean", "module.features.4.running_var", "module.features.6.weight", "module.features.6.bias", "module.features.7.weight", "module.features.7.bias", "module.features.7.running_mean", "module.features.7.running_var", "module.features.9.weight", "module.features.9.bias", "module.features.10.weight", "module.features.10.bias", "module.features.10.running_mean", "module.features.10.running_var", "module.features.12.weight", "module.features.12.bias", "module.features.13.weight", "module.features.13.bias", "module.features.13.running_mean", "module.features.13.running_var", "module.features.17.weight", "module.features.17.bias", "module.features.18.weight", "module.features.18.bias", "module.features.18.running_mean", "module.features.18.running_var", "module.features.20.weight", "module.features.20.bias", "module.features.21.weight", "module.features.21.bias", "module.features.21.running_mean", "module.features.21.running_var", "module.features.23.weight", "module.features.23.bias", "module.features.24.weight", "module.features.24.bias", "module.features.24.running_mean", "module.features.24.running_var", "module.features.26.weight", "module.features.26.bias", "module.features.27.weight", "module.features.27.bias", "module.features.27.running_mean", "module.features.27.running_var", "module.features.29.weight", "module.features.29.bias", "module.features.30.weight", "module.features.30.bias", "module.features.30.running_mean", "module.features.30.running_var", "module.features.34.weight", "module.features.34.bias", "module.features.35.weight", "module.features.35.bias", "module.features.35.running_mean", "module.features.35.running_var", "module.features.37.weight", "module.features.37.bias", "module.features.38.weight", "module.features.38.bias", "module.features.38.running_mean", "module.features.38.running_var", "module.features.40.weight", "module.features.40.bias", "module.features.41.weight", "module.features.41.bias", "module.features.41.running_mean", "module.features.41.running_var", "module.classifier.weight", "module.classifier.bias".