NHL suspends Bertuzzi for season, playoffs

[Marius]

"TORONTO (AP) -- Todd Bertuzzi of the Vancouver Canucks was suspended for the rest of this season and perhaps longer on Thursday for attacking Colorado's Steve Moore.

In addition, the NHL will determine before the start of training camp when the All-Star forward can return.

The Canucks were fined $250,000."
<snip>

Source: Sports Illustrated Online

More can be found here.

[Fight_n_back]

1. The Senate needs to investigate this

I want full hearings even if he is a citizen of a foreign country.

[Marius]

2. Sarcasm?

Anyways, I think he should be suspended all of next year, too. He broke a man's neck for cryin' out loud. He could've killed the man!

[Fight_n_back]

12. Not sarcasm

this is the most important issue of our day, up their with Disc Jockeys who use naughty language and two men who want to get married.

Solving the Bertuzzi problem will go a long way toward ending societies problems.

He is despicable, its not like he did something minor like kill his pregnant wife, schtup a 13 year old cancer patient or fabricate a reason to invade a sovereign nation. I mean he FELL ON A MAN IN A HOCKEY GAME FOR CHRISSAKES!.

How long will we allow this behavior to continue. I think the NEA is behind this.

The only justice would be to make him take over for Martha Stewart.

[HEyHEY]

4. It happened in a foreign country too

:-)

[rocktivity]

3. Maybe they ought to give him the next season off, too

In February 2000, McSorley was charged for hitting then-Vancouver Canuck Donald Brashear with his stick. McSorley was convicted of assault with a weapon, but he received an 18-month conditional discharge, meaning no jail time and no criminal record after probation. The league suspended him for a year, ending his 17-year NHL career.
I guess McSorley's punishment didn't send a clear enough message. The NHL should raise the ante every time a cheap shot crosses over to being a criminal act.

"I don't play the game that way. I'm not a mean-spirited person and I'm sorry for what happened," (Bertuzzi) said. "I'm relieved to hear that Steve is going to have a full recovery, it means a lot to me to know that's going to happen."
That's damned sporting of him, considering that Moore could have ended up paralyzed!

P.S. Here's the video...

:headbang:
rocknation

[HEyHEY]

5. Well, there won't BE a next season anyway

with the lockout looming.

[HEyHEY]

6. Bertuzzi? A born and bread Canuck fan wieghs in.

What Todd did was awful, however, I believe had the injury to Moore not been as severe Bert would have recieved no more than a match penalty and maybe a three game suspension. That is not to say he shouldn't be suspend for a long time. But, he did not intend to hurt Moore to the extent he did. You saw his press conference, he was devastated. I agree with Burke, it is unfair the way the media has villified him because of this. He has not been a dirty player before. Sure he uses his size to his advantage, but he is not a bully.

Some compared it to McSorley...bad comparison. Marty assualted someone with a weapon - a hockey stick. Bertuzzi did what happens every night in the league...this time he happened to hit the guy in the button. And it was the fall and pile up that broke his neck.

I hope Moore has a ful recovery. And I hope no more stupid acts of violence occur because of this. The sad part is the whole thing was an accident from day one. When Moore elbowed Naslund, that was an accident.

Either way, everyone has lost.

[Fight_n_back]

7. What Tony Siragusa did to Rich Gannon

is very similiar but there wasn't even a penalty called on that play.

EVERY play in the NFL is worse than what Bertuzzi did.

A supension is warrented because the man wasn't facing him. Everything else is an extension of nipplegate, "our society is crumbling, vote for a facist".

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

9. That elbow was no accident. (nt)

[HEyHEY]

13. yeah it was

if you look at the tape, Naslund fell as Moore came to him.He had lined him up for a regular body check.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

10. I disagree with your McSorley comparison....

Marty may have used a stick, but Bertuzzi kept hitting Moore even when he was down on the ice. You are correct that the fall to the ice most likely broke Moore's neck, however there was an aspect of possible premeditation. By his own words he incriminated himself by saying there was going to be payback for the elbow to Naslund. In my opinion it crossed the line from a good hockey donnybrook (which is acceptable) to a cheap-shot assault. I think he'll get what he deserves.

[HEyHEY]

14. He didn't hit him more than once

If you watch the tape again. You'll see he just fell on him...he didn't wind up again. Even then though...it stil lwould have only been a match penalty

[Marius]

15. He could've paralyzed or killed the man.

Criminal charges should be brought up.

[HEyHEY]

17. I've seen worse with intent to harm

This was a tragic accident stemmed from a bad temper

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

8. NHL needs to take responsibility itself

The Bertuzzi incident is a direct result of the NHL's insistance on trying to change their public image away from being a fighting league. The problem is that fighting didn't exist to merely entertain fans - it existed as a way to dissuade other teams from taking cheap shots at you. With only one referee on the ice, they simply do NOT see everything. Even worse, most refs don't bother calling penalties for all the slashing, clutching, and grabbing that takes place today. That's nothing new though - refs have always called the game that way. And players responded through fighting. They policed themselves. And it was, and still is, 100% necessary. If you don't retaliate for a cheap shot, you bet your ass the other 29 NHL teams are going to try to kick your ass repeatedly. Unless you want to constantly take the beat down, you have to sick your enforcer on them and make sure they know it won't be tolerated, especially cheap shots against your star players.

Unfortunately, in trying to tidy up their image, the NHL instituted a fight instigator penalty - something that most teams can ill afford in a close game with 2 valuable points on the line. That's exactly what happened in this case. If it was back before the fight instigator penalty, Moore would've been taken care of the same night he decided to commit a cheap shot of his own. It would've been a normal, small scale fight between two enforcers. Instead, it was a close game, as was the following game between the two teams, so the punishment was never delivered. Now we get to the game in question, which turned into a blow out. Finally - a penalty wouldn't matter. Further, we're heading quickly towards the playoffs where such a message that you won't tolerate being bullied around is vitally important. What you wind up with is Bertuzzi, who is a very stand-up guy, doing something he most definitely shouldn't have done. None of this absolves Todd for this egregious act, but if the NHL is going to be serious about preventing this type of action from taking place in the future, it had better get its act together and either kill the instigator rule or demand better officiating from its referees. Otherwise, I guarantee this will not be the last time we see this happen, and the blood will be on the NHL's hands.

[HEyHEY]

16. there are two refs on the ice these days

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

18. Not in all games

[HEyHEY]

19. oh yeah I forgot about that wierd inconsistency

[Forkboy]

22. There are 2 refs in ALL NHL games

I agree with your points about the instigator rule though.

[Fight_n_back]

11. Not the worst Ive seen

THE HIT

Claude Lemieux was, and still is, a great hockey player. It is unfortunate that he will always be remembered mainly for the nasty hit that he placed upon Detroit Red Wings center Kris Draper.

"The Hit" came during a 1996 Western Conference finals game between the Red Wings and Lemieux's Avalanche. At the end of a shift, Draper turned towards the boards in an attempt to get off of the ice. As Draper turned, he made the mistake of not checking to see who was behind him. Lemieux blasted his body into the backside of Draper, literally crushing Draper's face into the boards. Draper dropped to the ice in a puddle of blood, receiving a broken nose and fractured jaw, not to mention the many other contusions to his face. The punishment? A two-game suspension during the 1996 Stanley Cup finals.

While the hit on Draper was vicious and unwarranted, what followed in the parking lot after the game was just as bad. As Lemieux was walking with his wife and kids to his car, he was cursed at and called names by several Detroit players. While emotions were running at levels exceeding high, a parking lot confrontation in front of Lemieux's innocent family was classless.

http://www.hockeysandwich.com/claudelemieuxbio.html

[youngred]

20. That's not written from an Avs perspective

:eyes: not at all

Claude Lemieux is one of the most worthless, trashy, stupid vile, goons ever to play hockey, and perhaps he oughtn't have been heckled but the shit-fer-brains had it coming after a dirty hit like that.

[FatSlob]

21. Should be banned for life.

[Forkboy]

23. I've been saying for years

that if a player gets a match penalty for intent to injure and he DOES injure the other player,the player recieving the match penalty should be suspended for as long as the other player is injured.In this case Bertuzzi shouldn't be allowed to play until Moore is healthy enough to play himself.It's harsh,but it should be harsh.There is no room in any sport for this kind of stuff.

And for the record,I'm a major,MAJOR hockey fan.I love the rough stuff.Cam Neely is my all time favorite,so I'm not adverse to physical hockey :)

This hit was nothing compared to the Domi hit though.THAT was the cheapest shot I can ever remember seeing (maybe Hunter's hit on Turgeon comes close).Neidermayer isn't even close to a tough guy or a dirty player.It was just a cheap ass hit froma team full of cheap ass players.