Bertuzzi to Return

Vancouver Canucks forward Todd Bertuzzi was reinstated after a 17-month suspension for sucker-punching Colorado Avalanch forward Steve Moore. Some people say the suspension is not enough. Do I agree? Yes and no.

17-months is a long time to be banned from a sport, and it's not like he brought the integrity of the game into question (Pete Rose). This was an isolated incident of violence on the ice-- unfortuantely it is part of the game, that someone will go braindead. But I still think Bertuzzi ha some time to serve-- he has only served 20 games, and any more you get 20 games for shoving a cameraman. I still think he should serve another 10 games.

And I know I am of the minority who think Bertuzzi should be reinstated-- many wanted him banned from the game permanently. To those people, I must say: get real.

Now, I understand. I have a completely unique view of the game of hockey-- I'm a fan, I'm a player, and I'm a ref. And the latter is the one that sets me apart.

I remember sitting in a bar, watching the game live on TV with a couple friends-- one from Edmonton, and the other was the great-grandson of Milt Schmidt (Milt was a part of Boston's famous Kraut Line), and an NHL scout-- not to mention a former enforcer in junior hockey. We saw the event unfold-- and when things like that happen while we're at the bar, they like to play a little game with me: they like to see what penalties I would call, and see what I saw in detail.

What did I see?

Obviously I saw Bertuzzi grab Moore's sweater from behind, reach around, and sucker punch him-- nobody can deny that. But from there everyone else seems to get hazy-- and being a ref, I am trained to see it in real time, and make a call-- and there is no time to think about it. Nobody's fault, just a different view I am provided with.

When Bertuzzi punched Moore, Moore turtled-- he wanted no part of Bertuzzi. But when he turtled, his skates kicked Bertuzzi's skates, toppling both of them, with Bertuzzi on top of Moore.

That could have been the end of it. Except for Andrei Nikolishin coming to the aid of Moore. OK, Nikolishin had good intentions, protecting a teammate, but he brought with him another member of the Canucks-- one who was attempting to keep Nikolishin off of Bertuzzi. Here's the thing not many people saw-- when Nikolishin, who had broken away from Mattias Ohlund, jumped he forced Moore's nose back to the ice, where he rolled his neck. I'm not a doctor, but my first thought when I saw that was that Moore was fine until Nikolishin got there. It was when Moore's nose stuck to the ice, when Nikolishin got there, that broke his neck.

And I'm sure someone is going to come here and say: Nikolishin had to jump Bertuzzi, because Bertuzzi was repeatedly punching Moore. I disagree. There was one punch thrown by Bertuzzi. When I'm watching for a punch, you look for the player to cock his arm back-- you know, load, then unload. The only punch thrown was the sucker punch. What is mistaken for a second punch is just the momentum of the players falling to the ice, with Bertuzzi's left hand still grabbing Moore's sweater, not a punch. And what is mistaken as a third punch occured when Nikolishin ran into Bertuzzi's elbow.

Did Bertuzzi deserve a game misconduct? Damn straight. Did he deserve a suspension? Yes. At the time, I figured, ok suspend him for the rest of the regular season, and the first round of the playoffs-- which would have been 16 games, plus 4 to 7 playoff games-- just for a round number, you could have argued for 25 games, including playoffs. Then again, I'm not the NHL disciplinarian. But in my estimation, Andrei Nikolishin is just as responsible as Bertuzzi for what happened to Moore's neck.

Of course, Moore's teammates should have known something would happen. The whole story behind the incident started some 9 earlier, when Moore delivered an elbow to the head of Vancouver's Markus Naslund. Naslund was knocked cold, Moore was given neither penalty nor suspension for the hit. The Canucks were upset, and someone made the mistake of vowing revenge for the hit on Naslund. The Canucks demanded satisfaction.

Moore probably thought the problem had been dealt with when he was involved in a first-period fight. Nobody checked with the Canucks, and Bertuzzi wanted another piece of him. And if you watch the tape, you can see Bertuzzi calling out Moore from behind. Moore ignored him, and Bertuzzi got his attention with a fist.

Speaking of the tape. My friend, the scout, got a copy of the game film-- both Colorado's feed, and Vancouver's. So just for fun he put my theories (what I saw) to the test. He was amazed. In a span of not more than 10 frames-- for those who don't know that is about a third of a second real time-- 10 frames, he saw Nikolishin bump Bertuzzi's elbow (the alleged third punch) and Moore's nose stick to the ice, rolling his body over his neck.

Who knew? I got it right. I guess this puts to rest the theory that my 20/15 vision test was not fake.

So, I guess there is nothing left for me to say, but welcome back Todd-- but watch your back.