NHL Thread: String Bertuzzi Up

[The Mad Viking]

McSorley was convicted of assault, but did not get any jail time.

[Richelieu]

Dino Ciccarelli got 1 day in the 80's IIRC.

[Guynemer]

Correct, Richelieu.

[Tingkai]

One thing's for sure, Coach's Corner will be interesting this Saturday.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Living in Hong Kong, I have to watch ESPN coverage of hockey games. One thing I've noticed is that the ESPN commentators really play up the fighting. If a fight starts, they're going "Hey fight, fantastic, now the game is interesting, oh look at that hit, blah, blah, blah."

That's completely different from Canadian hockey coverage, which, IIRC, rarely shows the actual fighting.

That partially explains the different Canadian-American perspectives about hockey fights.

Hmmm... that is very interesting. Yeah, on ESPN they go hog wild over fights (the guys annoucing it are Canadians, though). Still, I think Guy's point stands. College hockey is a much cleaner game all around.

[vlad]

does anyone have a link for a video of the hit? I am trying to show my bro back in the states.

[Ben Kenobi]

It was worse than the McSorley incident.

C'mon!

You swing a stick at someone, you could kill them.

Not even close, giving him a sucker punch. No intent to injure.

[lightblue]

Originally posted by vlad
does anyone have a link for a video of the hit? I am trying to show my bro back in the states.

It's on the espn site (http://msn.espn.go.com).

[Tuberski]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi


C'mon!

You swing a stick at someone, you could kill them.

Not even close, giving him a sucker punch. No intent to injure.

Being on somebodies back and driving them into hard ice can kill them too.

Bertuzzi should be out the rest of the season and post season.

You complain that they shouldn't punish the Canucks, and yet, the Avs are punished too.

They lose a player for the season.

And for the record Bertuzzi has more than 3 times the penalty minutes that Moore has.

122 to 37.

Moore was dirty but Bertuzzi wasn't?

ACK!

[Flubber]

Latest news story from tsn.ca



TORONTO (CP w/TSN.ca staff) - The NHL disciplinary hearing into Todd Bertuzzi's attack on Steve Moore is now underway following a delay Wednesday morning after some of the parties involved asked for more time to prepare.



"(The hearing) will take place later in the day." NHL vice-president Gary Meagher told reporters 30-minutes after the hearing was supposed to begin at 9 am at the NHL's offices in Toronto.



The meeting is being held before NHL vice-president Colin Campbell, the league's disciplinarian. NHLPA officials will also attend.



Related Info
What They're Saying

Bertuzzi is present at the hearing despite speculation that he would not appear due to the threat of legal action in the case.



Marty McSorley opted not to appear for his NHL hearing in 2000 due to the threat of legal action against him. Despite his absence, the NHL suspended him for one year for hitting Vancouver's Donald Brashear in the head with his stick. That stands as the longest suspension to date for an on-ice infraction in the NHL.



"I have no time frame on when a decision might be made," Meagher added.



Moore was hospitalized with a fractured neck and a concussion after he was sucker-punched by Bertuzzi in the third period of a 9-2 Colorado win Monday night at Vancouver's GM Place.



The Avs forward landed face first on the ice, with Bertuzzi on top of him.



There has been bad blood between the two teams since a hit by Moore in a game Feb. 16 sidelined Canucks captain Markus Naslund for three games with a concussion. Moore was not penalized on the play.



Outside the Air Canada Centre on Wednesday, two fans waited along with reporters, who interviewed both in the absence of any other news.



One wore a Canucks shirt and hockey gloves with a sign taped to a hockey stick that said "Colin, Ernie says free Bert."



The sign had pictures of Muppets Ernie and Bert as well as a Bertuzzi photo, newspaper clipping and hockey card



The other held up a sign asking for a four-year ban of Bertuzzi and a fine of $3.2 million.



The average suspension handed down by the NHL for incidents similar to Bertuzzi's has been 11 games.



Matt Johnson of the Los Angeles Kings was handed a 12 game suspension for deliberately injuring Jeff Beukeboom of the New York Rangers in 1998. Beukeboom's subsequent head injury eventually forced him out of the game.



Philadelphia goalie Ron Hextall also received a 12 game suspension for attacking Montreal's Chris Chelios during a playoff game in 1989 while Owen Nolan, then of the San Jose Sharks, got 11 games for hitting Grant Marshall in the head in 2001.



Winnipeg's Jimmy Mann got 10 games for sucker-punching Pittsburgh's Paul Gardner in 1982 while Ruslan Salei of Anaheim was hit with a 10 game suspension for hitting Mike Modano of the Dallas Stars from behind in 1999.

[Brundlefly]

I just took a look at "the hit" and well I expected something worse...granted maybe there were things that I dont know...like did he continue to hit him on the ice, and from the video I saw I couldnt tell so understand that first...and second, I dont think from the video that I saw that he drove his head into the ice...I think that he got knocked out and fell funny. You can tell that the punch made him go limp and it was just Bert's weight that "drove" him into the ice...now, I am not saying what he did was right but I have seen alot worse...the main outrage in this case, to me, is the outcome not the act....

[Sava]

Originally posted by Guynemer
And to you folks who want to keep fighting in the game:

I would like to cordially invite you to a University of Michigan Wolverines vs. Michigan State University Spartans hockey game. (This is the rivalry that produced the "Cold War", the outdoor game attended by 76,000+ fans a couple years ago.) These teams do not like each other at all, not by even the loosest possible definition of the word. They despise each other. We fans despise each other. It is as intense an experience as I've ever had outside of the hospital.

There are no fights. There are no suckerpunches from behind. There is no spearing. There is no intentionally swinging a stick at another player's head. And it is tremendous, incredible, beautiful hockey.

Hockey does not need fighting. Give it a try. There is no sport on this planet that can compare.

Hockey doesn't need fighting, but it's better with it. The pussification of hockey is part of the problem. In the old days, there were tough guys who fought other tough guys. The instigator penalty is the biggest bunch of BS. With enforcers lurking, players behaved themselves... or else they faced the threat of fighting a tough guy. Now, players are playing more dirty because they know there aren't consequences. A guy like Bertuzzi wouldn't have cheap shotted Moore if there were enforcers lurking.

hockey hippie peaceniks

Bertuzzi should receive AT LEAST a year suspension.

[Guynemer]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi
Not even close, giving him a sucker punch. No intent to injure.

You crack my ass up, you crazy bastard.

[Guynemer]

Originally posted by Sava
Hockey doesn't need fighting, but it's better with it. The pussification of hockey is part of the problem. In the old days, there were tough guys who fought other tough guys. The instigator penalty is the biggest bunch of BS. With enforcers lurking, players behaved themselves... or else they faced the threat of fighting a tough guy. Now, players are playing more dirty because they know there aren't consequences. A guy like Bertuzzi wouldn't have cheap shotted Moore if there were enforcers lurking.

This is exactly the macho *****-waving bull**** that has gotten us into this mess in the first place.


EDIT: One other thing, Sava... if fighting would have solved this problem, then why did Bertuzzi go after Moore? After all, Moore had gotten in a fight earlier in the game to begin with.

[Asher]

Exactly. Clearly, fighting had nothing to do with this.