Todd Bertuzzi.
Jail. Now. Lock this motherfucker up. Suspend him for one year.
(And please NHL…dump the instigator rule…it doesn’t work).
Suspend him for a year? Fuck that, ban him for life. The NHL really doesn’t need bad press like this right now.
Lock him up. Throw away the key. What an asshole.
This is a classic example of why the NHL must crack down… or be shut down. No more fights… period. I know the argument that fighting is a necessary evil. Well, they’re wrong. I know the argument that hockey needs fighting to keep part of it’s fan base. Well, they’re also wrong. The NHL must make an example of Todd Bertuzzi.
Well fuck, it’s a good thing that I’m not moving back to BC in August, because the Canucks are really fucked now! :rolleyes:
Nah bullshit there have been incidents 10 times worse then this. Granted this was an extremely cheap shot the only reason its getting the press it is is becuase the dude broke his neck. I don’t know if anyone else caught the top 10 cheapest hits on sportscenter tonight but Bertuzzi’s was extremely mild compared to them. People have whacked someone over the head with a stick and have gotten 20 games and no criminal charges.
I don’t think there should be criminal charges. The league should handle it, and the punishment should be severe.
Whether you like fighting in hockey or not, there are understood rules to it. Bertuzzi broke them. It was a cheap ass shot that I’m sure he honestly regrets. I believe he was frustrated that they had tried to get Moore earlier in the game but Moore won his fight. Bertuzzi, seeing that Vancouver couldn’t possibly win, just wanted to give Moore a pounding, but Moore skated away.
Even if he regrets it, though, I think Bertuzzi should be suspended through the playoffs, at least.
The wife and I are more disheartened that Crawford, the Vancouver coach, let the game get that way. His team was playing cheap hockey all night and Crawford either encouraged it or did nothing. Brad May was taking potshots at the Avs goalie every chance he got, and it went beyond normal crouding the crease or putting the goalie off his game. No matter who you are, you don’t get to cross-check the goalie in the mask.
I used to respect Crawford. It’s gone now. That was bullshit play. They’re a better team than that.
The only reason people are calling for Bertuzzi to get a life long suspension is because Moore’s neck got broken.
And for the fucknuts who said fighting should be banned from the NHL, I guess you would rather see players that have their faces cut with sticks, a higher frequency of eye injuries, and such. Statistics have proven that since a) the instigator penalty was introduced, and b) a greeater number of players started wewaring a facial shield, the incident of stick infractions that have caused penalties has gone up. Fighting is an integral part of the sport, much like tackling is in football, and players who slide into second with their spikes up in baseball
As far as I am concerned, Bertuzzi should be suspended for the play. I would say at least 10 games, possibly 20. Bertuzzi did not intend to break the guy’s neck. He was looking for revenge for an action that was taken against a teammate in a previous game. Name me one sport where that doesn’t happen. Oh, that’s right, in nearly every sport, a player will retaliate for actions taken against a teammate.
Was what happened tragic? Yes. Was it intentional? No. Does it deserve the attention it is receiving? No. It is no way as severe as the slash that McSorley laid on Brashear.
So enought of the bitching, and let’s get back to what is most important at this time of year, and that is watching the Leafs fall apart due to the pressure of actually succeeding in the playoffs.
Fuck, I live in Vancouver and my major beef is that this stupid incident has fucked up BCTV news for a couple of days.
Don’t give a rat’s ass about sports? Interested in things that might have happened in other parts of the world? Keen to hear about things that have happened in this very city that didn’t involve Blood On The Ice?
Too bad!
It’s hockey, people, and categorically not worth talking about. At least not on the fucking news.
Larry, don’t tell me you actually expected anything else out of BCTV? I’m always impressed any time they don’t spend the first 15-20 minutes of the newscast obsessing over something that deserved 2 or 3 minutes tops. Of course, none of the other channels are any better, which is why I’ve more or less given up on tv news.
That being said, I am a Canucks fan, and I do have an opinion on this incident. Bertuzzi was way over the line, and deserves a lengthy suspension. You just don’t hit guys from behind like that. However, I don’t think it was premeditated, more likely a combination of frustration at the way the game was going and revenge for Moore’s hit on Naslund a few games back.
Bertuzzi shouldn’t get a lifetime suspension or face criminal charges - anything that happens on the ice should be solely up to the league to police. As far as the length of the suspension goes, I’d actually almost prefer it if he’s gone for the playoffs, as the distraction caused by the media if he came back part way through would likely outweigh any benefit his return would provide.
I hope that Steve Moore makes a speedy recovery, and is back with the Avalanche next season, or whenever the NHL gets back to playing.
There’s too much fucking fighting in hockey.
My little nephew is 8, he plays hockey in a league and it seems everyone has forgotten the word ‘game.’ They spend half their training - literally half, I may even be underestimating - practicing bodychecking. What about skating, passing, shooting, playmaking, defending, etc? For this kid, and all his peers, the game is all about fighting. I know that I wouldn’t want my own kids playing in a league like my nephew’s, where you have to fight, fight, fight all the time ! Don Cherry can suck my … er … well, he can just fuck right off.
Rugby players manage to play a rough, physical game and still not beat the shit out of each other. Even boxers have some kind of understanding of ‘sportsmanship’ and the whole point of their sport is beating the shit out of each other !
Hockey does not need fighting. Asshole testosterone-pumped big-egoed men need fighting. Hockey needs to learn to live without it or else part-time fans like me will get too disgusted and leave. It’s not about changing individual rules, it’s about changing the hockey culture so that people can play hockey without having to fight all the time.
go leafs go!
I say give him 15 - 20 game suspension, and then let his justice come on the ice.
Criminal charges? That’s ridiculous, it wasn’t that bad.
They wouldn’t have pulled this stunt on the Leafs!
Lessee . . .
I love hockey.
I dislike the instigator rule.
I want Bertuzzi fined and suspended for at least 20 games.
I want the league to take it seriously.
I think fighting needs to stop being “part of the game.”
I think the fighting has started to overshadow the game.
I do not think it’s an integral part of the game. Checking, duh. Fighting? Nope.
So, do I count as a “fucknut,” xayoz306?
I’m betting on a 15-20 game suspension. The precedent here is not the Marty McSorley incident (what is it in GM place anyway?) but the Matt Johnson/Jeff Beukeboom incident. Johnson sucker punched Beukeboom and caused a concussion which forced Beuk to retire. Johnson got 12 games, even though the incident was awful and premeditated. What Bert did was also premeditated and, like Johnson and unlike McSorley, no stick was involved.
That said, of course there is no excuse for what Bert did and he will have to live with the penalty, on top of the fact that he has most likely killed any chance of post-season success that the Canucks had. Not to mention that he broke a mans neck. Most people have trouble living with guilt like that, it is bad enough when it is an accident during the course of a game, but when it is a moment of frenzied revenge…
IMO, the NHL brought this upon themselves. Like most of the Canuck players, I thought that Moores hit on Naslund was a cheap, head hunting shot. Naslund was in a vulnerable position and Moore went to hit him high. If the NHL had given Moore a suspension on the order of 1-3 games I think what happened on Monday could have been avoided.
ummm… yeahh…, are you serious? Have you ever seen somebody who didn’t like a fight? Also, what about baseball? Hockey doesn’t have bench clearing brawls anymore, but they are common in baseball (remeber the Yankees/Red Sox from last October?). A pitcher that throws at a batter is guilty of something as bad (or worse) as anything that happens in a NHL game.
I agree 100%. The trouble with the nhl is they don’t seem to react until something like this happens.
What I don’t get is why the cheap shot at all. Bertuzzi is perfectly capable of taking Moore head on. Somebody fucks with my line mate and they’ll get busted in chops. Hard but clean. If a fight results so be it but it will be a fair fight. Not this cheap from behind crap. Bert deserves a suspension and a significant fine but he is not the only one at fault.
Bertuzzi was trying to provoke him into a fight, I’m fairly sure of that. He just misjudged what his punch was going to do.
However, even by the “code” of hockey fighting, Moore was done after the first period. He just happened to win his fight and the Canucks couldn’t let it go. Bertuzzi had no business trying to keep that going. And Crawford cost his team two points against a division rival playing for revenge and not the win. Dumb all around.
adam yax, I’m sure I’m in the minority, but I don’t like watching fights. Of any sort. Never have. :shrug: For whatever that’s worth.
And really, fights in baseball are common? Sh’ya, right.
I’m not a hockey fan, so I look at it like this. Would charges be pressed if this had happened off the ice? Without question, yes. So charges should be filed in this case too. He broke a some guy’s neck, fer cryin’ out loud. So what if he didn’t mean it? Anger control is not that hard. There are even classes for it.
Thanks Raygun99. I didn’t see the game and all I keep seeing is the punch. Not what led up to it. That being the case Crawford is equally at fault for not telling his team to let it go.
andros bench clearing brawls are much more common in baseball but fights in general are definitely not. Fights are less common in the NHL now than they used to be 10-15 years ago and is in general a good thing.
Fights in a close game I can understand as emotion runs high and trying to get that edge can get out of hand. These fights are usually over with quickly and everybody moves on. The game is too important to take a stupid penalty. When the game is out of hand and the losing team tries to “send a message” :eek: is when things get ugly. This is as much the fault of the coach as the players. All the coach has to do is say if you start a fight you will be benched and it won’t happen. Hit the players where it hurts playing time and fines.
Jesus fucking Christ.
I love hockey. I like watching fights. But I’ve thought somebody needed to put a leash on Todd Bertuzzi for a long time now. He’s a really big guy, he’s mean as hell, and he holds a grudge like nobody else.
Apparently he’s showing remorse, which is a good thing. Maybe he’ll ease the fuck up now. And since he’s showing remorse, I don’t think they should suspend him for a year or ban him for life or anything else that’s going to effectively end his career. He should be suspended for a while, yes. And required to enter some kind of anger management program. Jail, maybe, but that’s not for me to decide.