Bertuzzi a product of hockey's culture

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

What Bertuzzi did to Moore -- seeking him out with the intent to physically harm him, and doing so from behind -- has been a part of hockey for as long as the game has existed. It's as much a part of the culture of the game as sticks and skates and pucks.

It's also, in very large part, a Canadian thing.

- sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?columnist=kelley_jim&id=1757143

[habwest]

Yea, I read this article earlier. I think Jim Kelley's pretty close to the mark on a lot of things in it although he might have emphasized as well that a large majority of the owners are American and they and the NHLPA hold the key to change.

If the League started throwing out the McSorleys, Bertuzzis etc for life that would send the message down to the grass roots that would be listened to. If you seriously hurt somebody, or try to seriously hurt somebody, you're toast, end of millionaire career. And if they started levying coaches and GMs fines in the order of $250+K and teams in the order of $4-5M you can bet your bottom dollar that ol' Crawford would have been cooling his players out instead of egging them on to get Moore. And any coach/GM who screwed up and cost the owner big $ would be gone in a flash.

That and some judicious rule changes to protect players from getting hit in the head (no more Moore or Stevens 'by the rules' head breaking checks) and strict enforcement of all the rules would do the trick. All it takes is willpower....which is why it will never happen.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

Mr. said:

What Bertuzzi did to Moore -- seeking him out with the intent to physically harm him, and doing so from behind -- has been a part of hockey for as long as the game has existed. It's as much a part of the culture of the game as sticks and skates and pucks.

It's also, in very large part, a Canadian thing.

- sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?columnist=kelley_jim&id=1757143

I've now watched it for the 50th time and I am starting to sway slightly.
It was wrong.
It is unacceptable.
It's part of hockey.
It was an unprovoked assault.
It should be stopped.
It is borderline short of criminal assault.
Bertuzzi should not be made a scapegoat for what has been acceptable in the past.
Some of the fines leveled on Bertuzzi should go th the injured party and not to Bettman.
Changes are needed.
If my boss or coworker snuck up behind me and leveled me it would be unacceptable. If I'm playing in an oldtimers tournament it's unacceptable there too. If I'm earning a living in the NHL it's unacceptable there as well.
Lets make changes but lets not villify Todd.

[CentreHice]

This mentality is the very reason I quit playing organized hockey. It was 1975...the Broad Street Bullies era.....I was 17, playing Juvenile All-Star here in southwestern Ontario. I was a fast right winger with a quick accurate wrist shot. The reason I didn't move up to our Junior C team was I had no slapshot at all, and I was small even for that era....5' 9"...165, yet I could deliver and take good clean hits. I didn't shy away from corners or board work.

Anyway...we had an exhibition game against a hated rival (and I say that thinking..."how can you hate another town at 17?)....but you DO...because it's the culture. You know no one on the other team personally, you just know that you hate them. Your coach hates them, your teammates hate them, so you hate them. It's extremely childish and adolescent...but it's what pervades every level of hockey.
There was a bench clearing brawl midway through the third period. I was disgusted. The refs called the game....I went into the dressing room, handed my sweater and socks to the manager and said, "I'm done."

And that was it....I went and played houseleague...got all kinds of ice time....and had a ball.

Fast forward to non-contact old-timers hockey 5 years ago...I was 40 years old....I got around a 55-year-old defenceman, but before I could breakaway clearly, he turned around with his stick and hooked me around the shoulder/neck area and pulled. I went right off my skates and cracked two ribs when I hit the ice.

A freakin' beer-and-chicken wing mean-nothing league...and this mentality is still there.

The a-hole factor multiplies by a million at the NHL level.

I love the game for its skill and beauty, but the warts have got to go.

[Skilly]

CentreHice said:

Fast forward to non-contact old-timers hockey 5 years ago...I was 40 years old....I got around a 55-year-old defenceman, but before I could breakaway clearly, he turned around with his stick and hooked me around the shoulder/neck area and pulled. I went right off my skates and cracked two ribs when I hit the ice.

Did you sue?

You obviously did not play thinking that could happen. It has happened to me before as well. I was playing ball hockey and I just made a move around the centerman and flip the ball in the air and batted it between the defenseman's legs .... I zipped past him and before I got to the ball *wham* a slash across the hand, a fractured thumb, and unable to go to work.

I was so mad, but back then we all said it was part of the game. Is that right or wrong? Who knows. But taking the P*&3K to court was the furthest thing from my mind.

This Kelley fellow has got some nerve. I am not a fan of Scott Taylor of the Winnepeg Free Press but I agree with him on this. Expansion has changed hockey, the way it is played, and it was all for Gary Bettman's legacy. Well his legacy has failed. They do not come out, they don't like hockey, they don't get it, they complain about the game when stuff likr=e this happens, and they haven't got a kind word to say with regards to the sport. Well if Americans (speciacally the Sun Belt) don't like hockey as much as they say (the ratings are slightly higher than bowling) then GIVE IT BACK to Canada!! If you want to blame Canada .... fine I have no problem with that .... but don't take our sport and try to Americanize it ..... GIVE IT BACK!!

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

CentreHice said:

This mentality is the very reason I quit playing organized hockey. It was 1975...the Broad Street Bullies era.....I was 17, playing Juvenile All-Star here in southwestern Ontario. I was a fast right winger with a quick accurate wrist shot. The reason I didn't move up to our Junior C team was I had no slapshot at all, and I was small even for that era....5' 9"...165, yet I could deliver and take good clean hits. I didn't shy away from corners or board work.

Anyway...we had an exhibition game against a hated rival (and I say that thinking..."how can you hate another town at 17?)....but you DO...because it's the culture. You know no one on the other team personally, you just know that you hate them. Your coach hates them, your teammates hate them, so you hate them. It's extremely childish and adolescent...but it's what pervades every level of hockey.
There was a bench clearing brawl midway through the third period. I was disgusted. The refs called the game....I went into the dressing room, handed my sweater and socks to the manager and said, "I'm done."

And that was it....I went and played houseleague...got all kinds of ice time....and had a ball.

Fast forward to non-contact old-timers hockey 5 years ago...I was 40 years old....I got around a 55-year-old defenceman, but before I could breakaway clearly, he turned around with his stick and hooked me around the shoulder/neck area and pulled. I went right off my skates and cracked two ribs when I hit the ice.

A freakin' beer-and-chicken wing mean-nothing league...and this mentality is still there.

The a-hole factor multiplies by a million at the NHL level.

I love the game for its skill and beauty, but the warts have got to go.

you make an excellent point. That's why there are house leagues, no checking leagues, old-timers, competitive old-timers, travel, A, B, C, girls leagues etc..........
In the US adult leagues, there are players who genuinely want to fight and injure someone. When I played in Canada, fighting was a code of honor, show him who's tougher, who's got courage, who has balls, but don't try to injure someone permanently. Just make him back down.
Watching Globenski on the Jr. Canadiens, I saw hockey much more vicious than anything in the NHL. There were guys who wanted to prove a point, not professionals with million dollar salaies, wives and kids.
This is hockey, not basketball or ping pong.
Checking is good. Fighting is accepted. What Bertuzzi did wasn't acceptable. It wasn't criminal.