Bertuzzi decision

[Skimmerking]

I couldnt believe it
I have been playing contact hockey all my life. Most of it was with the army. I havev never seen that before ,it strike s me as s idiot ,all the money trhey make and they still do that dum stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ANy way he desrves all what he receives.

Mike

[Marcus K]

I am a Canucks fan and was late at watching the game. I got home when the second period was two minutes in and from that point it was obvious that the Canucks were not thier to win or play hockey. What I would like to know is why was Bertuzzi on the ice considering the game was well over into the third? Why was Moore on the ice? The hit was from behind and did cause serious injury, was it meant to be? What matters is that a player is out because of a cheap shot after the play and he should be repromanded for his actions. Its nice that the suspension has been left open pending the outcome. But I do think that Bertuzzi is not the only one who's actions should be questioned. The Refs should have called the game better and should have ejected more players early on. They should have given the coaches warrnings and bench penalties. The Coaches did nothing to calm down thier player nor did they take out key players to prevent injury especially going into the playoffs. No we are down our #2 scorer for the rest of the season because our coach screwed up. The league should now thing about thier icing rules!

Just my 2 cents.

[jgoldsney]

Well I guess that I may be a little in the minority but I think they should take out the instigator penalty and bring back the enforcer type of role. I think that the hit was a total cheap shot and he deserves whatever he gets but I think that the whole thing could have been settled if way back when Moore hit Naslund an enforcer had skated up to him the next shift and "educated" him. All of this would never have happend.


I remember in the 80's when the Oilers were in their prime.... No one touched Gretz because they knew that they would have the wrath of Semenko descending on them.

It just seemed that things were a little more ballanced and the "star" players were able to play without having to worry about getting their bell rung by some one out to prove something.


Ah well that is just my thought on the matter.

Joel

[Samw]

I wonder if all this would have been avoided if 1. a suspension was given for the head hit on Naslund and 2. if Moore apologized and visited Naslund at the hospital in good faith (I heard Moore never apologized for it). I find it unfair for the league to fine the Canucks and say that they did not do anything to reduce the "Temperature" of the situation when neither the other team nor the league itself did anything. Does the league not look at itself to see what they could have done themselves to tone down the "Temperature". If the league and the other team doesn't do anything to help tone down the situation from Naslund's head (and potentially career ending) hit, why should they expect the Canucks organization to do the same when they were the victim of the first concussion? Yes, the Bertuzzi hit turned out somewhat tragic but that was clearly not his intention to break someone's neck. He went out there to show the league that no one can badly injure his friend and a Hart Trophy candidate and not expect any consequences. He decided it was time to drop the gloves on that shift. But the other guy didn't want to dance. He wanted and tried to do the honorable thing, but in the end, due to circumstances at that time, he couldn't and didn't.

If it is the norm and standard to be able to knock people out with hits to the head and have the league and the hitter shrug it off and say its just part of the game, then of course, this game will continue to be violent.

[three dawgs]

Sports IMO has gone too far off the handle. I think that the suspension was fair and more like that should be given. The sports world in a WHOLE should start cracking down on this type of BS. Young kids see this and feel its okay to play that way. What would you do as a parent if YOUR child at the age of 10 was crippled in a game because of a cheap shot? You now have a child at the age of 10 as a parapelegic. Your wholelife changes. What is your reaction going to be?
We can all sit there and say "Yes this has to stop". But where do they start? It would be like the drinking and driving rule. Hey most of us did it as kids. YUP we were stupid. We got away with it. When did they start suspending licenses? In the 80's? Thats not fair is it? But in a WHOLE we are alot happier now that they take the YAHOO off the road for a year. Not that this works all the time. I think it makes everyone look at there actions and the outcomes. The rules have to change and so do the punishments. Yes too bad it was Bertuzzi, could have been McSorley that initially got the punishment like Bert, but nope. They are using Bert as the example and yes it has to start NOW.
This is only my opinion and thats the way I feel.

[r_wellwood]

Well, its interesting that this topic made its way onto an Aquarium BB - I believe that this supports the notion that this Hockey incident runs much deeper into society than most of us care to realize. This incident is tied to our everyday society.

All in all, we should all try and look at what good can come from all of this. Bottom line, within either the NHL or society we have rules/laws. Individuals don't break these rules/laws just because there is a penalty, but because we all have a sense (although different) of whats 'right and wrong'. That sense does change (short term, long term), and emotional reactions are a big factor influencing short term perception. Everyone has seen the incident, everyone has been made aware that Bertuzzi's actions were wrong, everyone has been able to see a distraught Todd Bertuzzi own up to his actions and admit he made a mistake. These are the lessons we should all hope to learn without having to experience - especially children. It would have been horrifying for the kids at the game to see this happen, and I would hope that these kids have been able to see the event through, and that this has influenced (for the better) their sense of 'right and wrong'. I would also hope that everyone has seen Todd take public responsibility for his actions; accountability is a trait that we should wish upon all people.

Now, the hockey fan in me is disappointed this whole thing happened, right from the Moore hit on Naslund two weeks or so ago. There is no doubt that this incident has opened the publics' eye to some of the issues in the game: the NHLs' lack of consistently enforcing the rules, the NHLs' lack of being proactive in protecting all players of the game, and the fact that the NHL is a business as much as it is a sport.

I hope Steve Moore is able to get back and live his life soon. The type of injury he sustained (neck) is serious, but not quite as serious as the media made it out to be. I would not want to have that injury; but, he was not subject to any high risk of permanent damage (spinal cord). Like Brian Burke, I hope Steve Moore is back skating soon.

The suspension handed to Todd is harsh, but the NHL could not have decided on anything less. There is no way the league could risk having the Canucks facing the Avs in the third round, and there is no way the league could risk having Todd back being the hero in one or more playoff games. This would take away from the severity of the situation AND would lead to more media 'bashing' towards the NHL Head Office.

I won't let the 'Canuck Fan' side of me out here, that would just open up a can of 'competitive conspiracy' and anger towards the Avs and NHL...

I would hope that this incident, as suggested on TSN, is not forgotten; and as TSN suggested it should be used as a tool to teach at many levels of hockey. Todd shouldn't have done what he did, bottom line. Was he alone in this... no. It is now turn for the NHL to step up and make 'the good ol game' a great game.

RW

[targaboy78]

Just my .02 worth. Bert was obviously the initial contributing factor. I do not dispute that.

However, I believe (just my opinion) Moore's injuries MAY (or may not) have been complicated by the "dog-pile" that ensued after the initial contact.

- Yes, the sucker punch was less than sportsmanlike.

- The falling ontop of Moore may (or may not) have been deliberate - he did have him by the jersey and may have been pulled over as Moore fell?

- The AV player that piled on top to punch Bert actually looks like he punched Moore. (Some camera angles)

- The remainder of the players piling on did not make the situation an easier on Moore's neck.

I think this could have been avoided if the original check on Naslund was reviewed or at least given an Interference penalty. NHL Refs suck.
I think if Ruutu layed the same hit on Forsberg or Sakic on open ice like Moore on Nassy - there would have been a call.

My comments on if Bert got what he deserved...
The remainder of this season - Definately.
The first 1 or 2 rounds of the playoffs - Sure.
The entire playoffs - No.
A review at the beginning of next year to determine if the suspension is to continue. - I won't even dignify that with a response.

I hope Moore recovers and can play again. Regardless of what Bert deserves.... Nobody deserves what Moore got.

[AJ_77]

this will enforce the thinking that north american players are a bunch of goons (mostly) and that the europeans are the skilled ones (non-goons)

hard to argue against that sometimes - the second avalanche player was swinging away before he got bertuzzi off the guy's back. as was said, he could easily have added to moore's injuries without stopping to think - did he think that dogpiling his own player was helping him??

for the most part the "goon" stereotype holds true (the popular t-shirt reads "give blood, play hockey")

[StirCrazy]

heres a twist for you all, do you think Bert deserves a less fair sentence than a murder? thats what he got.. when they passed the ruling they said he was suspended for the rest of the season, the playoffs and they will rule at a later date as to they feel it warrants more.

at least a murder who is sentenced gets the full sentence instead of being left hanging.

I must make it clear that I think he deserves a harsh punishment as i don't condone goon tactics with obvious intents to injure, but I do believe when they ruled yesterday they should have made clear the "FULL SENTENCE" instead of leaving him hanging.

Steve

[Samw]

I don't think his intent was to injure (put someone on the injury list) because he knew that would be an automatic suspension. I do however think his intent was to inflict pain, (lots of it), but without doing anything that warrants a suspension. Like it was mentioned, he's driven guys to the ice before but never injured anyone. He thought he could get away with it (and not injure anyone) again this time, but he didn't.