Bert's suspension

[Dude]

You make a jood point there Hos, about the player fines.On a purely monetary basis, the team is paying twice. That needs to be addressed. If he's suspended, he's suspended, and should have to pay a fine out of his own pocket. The Association will, of course, never allow this.

What does Gughead have to say about this?

 

[Guinness]

Sens-able is all over this... The NHL has bowed down to the Meca that is the strength of the Yankie media!!! CNN has it on their ticker and all of a sudden Bettman & Campbell are pressured to take a hard nose stance... However, I'm certain the same penalty wouldn't have been handed down had this been a player wearing New York Ranger/Toronto Maple Leaf Blue!!! Eastern Bias has been known for years, don't kid yourselves the politics involved in this ruling were massive... Why else wouldn't the League ignore the comments made by Clarke and Hitchcokc??? Actually Clarke has done this type of stuff since the 70's!!! Bounties, cheap shots and idiotic outbursts are park of Bobby's make up... A few years back he made comments about Roger Neilson's cancer after basically running him out of town... He is a disgrace to the game, yet goes un-punished for his behavior...
To me he's the one who is gutless!!! I don't care if he punches your face in from in front of you while your hanging on for dear life... He's a caged animal!!!
(sorry about the rant)
NO excuses for what Bert did... He was completly out of line and should suffer the concequences like a man... However, the way he's been portayed in the media is sick... Absolutely disturbing how some people don't like him, because he's not a good interview...

13 games should have been enough...

 

[Fat Bastard]

Damn media! Did you guys read the articles today. Seems to be alot of backtracking. Do you think alot of people - intelligent people, not call-in geeks - may have showed their displeasure at Pacific Press the only way that gets any attention? Cancelled subscriptions.

As for the media sensationalism... Ray Ferraro made some good points on Sportstalk last night. Called some of the reporting 'horrendous', 'terrible', and so on. Said people who are taking personal shots at Bertuzzi are out of line, and anyone that thinks his apology wasn't sincere is a 'moron'. Had Russell backtracking a little.

The real hockey guys have a real sense for putting this in perspective.

Anyhow, for the best article I have seen on this incident - in terms of objectivity and having any hockey sense - check out this link. It's by Kevin Woodley on mybc.com (or mytelus, whatever). This guy may be the best hockey writer in town. Deserves a gig with one of the dailies - rather than being an AP hack.

FB out.

PS: Cheers to the boys over at the Page. BMac and his proteges have done a really good job 'reporting' - as opposed to sensationalizing - the events of the last few days. Taylor should maybe have a word with his old pal.

 

[sensei_hanson]

Captain,

Here is what Clarke had to say about Martin's tactics after the Philly-Ottawa game:

"I would not have hit him - I am not that stupid," Clarke told the Philadelphia Inquirer following the Flyers' 2-1 loss Saturday in Washington when he was asked about trying to get to Martin the previous night. "But I would have confronted him.

"I understand Rob Ray fighting Donald Brashear. That's OK. Even Mark Recchi and Patrick Sharp, they can fight. But don't go after guys who don't know how to defend themselves like Somik and (Mattias) Timander.

"I don't think a guy like that should send players out to beat the crap out of players who can't fight. I wanted to say something. It's not like (Martin) is a big, tough bugger whose teams play that way and stuff.

"What Neil did is not something to be proud of. I'm ticked off that a player like Neil would go after a player like Somik. If Martin says it's not his responsibility, then he doesn't have control of his bench."

My indication from these statements is that Clarke didn't see the fisticuffs as completely "above board" as you put it. Clearly, Clarke didn't think a couple of the fights that ensued were either legitimate or allowable. And these statements are coming from a former Broad Street Bully. I think a lot of people need to stop making distinctions between acceptable levels of retalitory violence in the NHL. If Neil went off on Somik and beat his arse into the emergency ward, there would be a MASSIVE uproar about a tough guy taking a somewhat defenseless player to task. But, as you pointed out, nobody got hurt so all the fans had a big hoot n holler about it.

Secondly. All we've heard from the NHL is that incidents of the Bertuzzi nature are brutal (correct) and have no place in the game (correct). In light of condemning this type of violence, it seems highly hypocritical that the league would do nothing in response to a clearly premeditated pier-six brawl that broke the NHL record for PIMs in a game. I don't understand how Crawford's comments about Moore were any more inflammatory than Hitch's comments about Havlat. As far as on-ice issues go, Clarke seems convinced that Martin went out of his way to make it a goon show at times. Doesn't this warrant at least some type of monetary fine? I can't imagine the NHL encouraging the type of behavior that went on between the Sens and the Flyers. But maybe I'm wrong.

If you run the tape of the massive Philly-Ottawa brawl aside the Bertuzzi-Moore sucker punch, only those who follow hockey are really going to understand the difference in ethical code between the two individual events. The non-hockey public just see unbridled violence. Which is exactly why CNN anchors claim that incidents like the Bertuzzi punch "happen all the time" and "the game is dripping with violence."

Keep in mind the monetary fine here is a seperate issue from the Bertuzzi suspension. Personally, I think a quarter mill is a joke given some of the deliberate goon shows coaches throw out on a regular basis.

 

[Guinness]

Again, Sensei bang on... (I can't belive I'm agreeing with a Falcon)
The League just fined McCaw millions on top of the 250... Indirectly of course, but that's what they did when they made an example of one the NHL's biggest stars!!! The Canucks (IMO) had a ligitmit shot at a Cup run... Now (IMO) they'll be lucky to beat (San Jose or Dallas) in the first round...
Diabolical really...
Clarke is a cnut and Bettman is disgusting...

 

[Stepchild]

Broken Neck

For those that care, the Broken neck that is so often mentioned is in fact a fracture of the Transverse Process. These are located externally to the spinal cord and act mainly as attachments for tendons and ligaments. They are like ears sticking out from the side of your head (like Regs and I). The correlation of a spinal cord injury with a TP fracture is low. That is the uninformed media spinning shite out of nothing. Ya you can get serious neck problems from such a fracture, but these Million $ babies have trainers working around the clock, thus he will be fine! This shite happens daily with whiplash type injuries, move on and fukc off to all those that jumped all over the issue by believing what they heard in the news. I am not down-playing the injury, I am just saying lets get our shite together before spreading propaganda.
Suspension was a little harsh, but I guess they based it on the results of the punch, not the punch itself.
My 2 cents

 

[Regs]

Well said Prince, well said Charles.



~Regs.

 

[Fat Bastard]

Two questions for you lads...

First, the US media has been quick to condemn this act as a barbarian hockey thing. (See Jim Kelley's article on the other thread, posted by KNVB, where it's now a Canadian thing. )But can someone please tell me how throwing a baseball at some guys head at 100+ mph is not as dangerous as a sucker punch? Please. While I agree that the other sports ban fighting, they still have their own way of frontier justice. Chop blocks, blindside hits in football - legal or otherwise. Beaning in baseball. How about a spikes-up slide in to second? How about a forearm to the catchers head? How typical of American and non-hockey media to drive their collective head in the sand.

Second - if there are any lawyers in the audience - much has been said about a possible civil suit against Bertuzzi (less likely now as Moore could conceivably be playing hockey if the Avs go deep into the playoffs) - but does Bertuzzi have any grounds to sue members of the media for slander - particularly with commentary regarding his character and the 'broken neck' thing. It seems to be concensus by many people now that the 'tabloid' journalism and shoddy reporting - if you can call it that - had a significant effect on Bertuzzi's league-imposed sentence.

Just curious. (I think it might be bad optics if he did that, but I think it makes for an interesting line of thought.)


The Fat One

 

[LucVanLierde]

U have brought up some good ideas. I recall Warren Sapp blindsiding some dude on Green Bay 2yrs ago, ending his season and maybe his carreer...Do you think there any mention of getting the police involved ....hell no. This whole assault investigation on Bert is just a resonating message to North America that we dont just grow weed in vancouver, we apparently smoke it by the ton.

Boxers have died in the ring.

Lets not forget that Bertuzzi was the highest vote getter in Allstar Balloting this year. This whole situation with Moore is all because of his popularity. All these other comparisons that have been brought up.....Domi, Brashear, Hunter., McSorley..come on who are these guys.

It sure has become apparent in the last few games of how rare and valuable Bert is to our team. On a side note Burke is a genius and our 2 flashee new forwards are very good pickups. With Jovo back and Cloutier on his game, the dream is still alive.

 

[Hands of Stone]

r...Do you think there any mention of getting the police involved ....hell no. This whole assault investigation on Bert is just a resonating message to North America that we dont just grow weed in vancouver, we apparently smoke it by the ton.

Where does Luc draw the line between, Just Playing the Game, and Assault. I think that McSorry and his stick swinging was asault, there is no place in the game for two hand swings at people heads. This whole Bert sucker punch is on the boarder, but it is a tough call.
No in soccer if you kick someone when they have the ball, it is OK, well you could get a card, But what it you went behind someone during the game and kicked them and injured them, is that not assault. It is a fine line on the sports field, but there has to be a line.

hos

 

[Captain Shamrock]

With Jovo back and Cloutier on his game, the dream is still alive.

What dream would that be? A match-up against Dallas in the first round and finishing the season in 6 games? At least you're honest.

 

[Hands of Stone]

What dream would that be? A match-up against Dallas in the first round and finishing the season in 6 games? At least you're honest.

This is like DejaVu all over agian. Capt. remember last year when the Nucks where down to St.Lou, you were all over the Nucks how shitty they are and they will be out first round. Well the boys and girls of TTP stuck by the Nucks and we fought back to win the series and then take Minny to 7.
So I guess what I am saying, why don't you just Shut your Cake Hole and go back to your Mighty Celtic threads or Hail Hail Flyers threads, and stay away form out beloved Canuck Threads.

Simply the Best, Nucks

 

[LucVanLierde]

Where does Luc draw the line between, Just Playing the Game, and Assault. I think that McSorry and his stick swinging was asault, there is no place in the game for two hand swings at people heads. This whole Bert sucker punch is on the boarder, but it is a tough call.
No in soccer if you kick someone when they have the ball, it is OK, well you could get a card, But what it you went behind someone during the game and kicked them and injured them, is that not assault. It is a fine line on the sports field, but there has to be a line.

hos

I'm pretty sure Brian Allan swung his stick at Zetterbergs leg this year and broke it. I dont even think there was a penalty on the play. What the NHL has taught us is that pretty much anything face to face is fair go, but a blindsided attack is grounds for an assult investigation. But I agree, it's a fine line to say the least. It would be extremely difficult to implement any type of ruling on this subject, as every situation is very different.
I am just pissed at the whole situation....Berts my favorite hockey player and the playoffs just won't be the same without him.

 

[hedkandi]

Bert's suspension and the fine to Canucks organisation does nothing to proactively deal with the problem. The outcry of what happened has a lot to do with society as it does with sport. And the NHL will only react when this happens again. The NHL should widen the ice to Olympic size, no-touch icing, stop the fighting and expand the video review system. The calls that in a 2 referee system, time and time again, it seems the ref farthest away from the play is calling the penalty, whereas the ref right next to the play does not. The video replay call, questions the call of the officiating, so why not take it further?

Bert deserved the suspension, but how many times were penalties called against him when he was skating with 2 opposition players on his back and when he used his size and strength to an advantage, he was called for it?

"Its all fun and games 'till someone loses an eye"

hedKandi

 

[Captain Shamrock]

you were all over the Nucks how shitty they are and they will be out first round. Well the boys and girls of TTP stuck by the Nucks and we fought back to win the series and then take Minny to 7.

HOS,

Surely you can't be that naive/stupid. Okay, you can. However, you fail to remember the 'flu' that went through the St. Louis changing room(9 fcuking players were impacted). Also, you're happy that the Canucks TOOK MINNY TO SEVEN? Are you fcuking kidding? They fcuking choked when they were up 3 - 1. Hopefully you don't bastardize this thread anymore with your moronic posts. I'm sure other Canucks fans on the site would like you to save embarrassing yourself. TOOK MINNY TO SEVEN? Fcuking hilarious.

At least you got something right.......Mighty Celtic threads.....Well done.

I guess that is why you stay out of the 'Celtic' threads because your team is fcuking mince and knocked out of everything. Typical Hun supporter.

 

[LucVanLierde]

Page 43 in the province today. Aside from John Garett, this is the first bit of media backing, support, or touch of class I have seen since this happend.

 

[Dude]

Pretty balsy, and classy for MSAFord to put themselves out there. The date being so close to the incident shows something too.

 

[knvb]

Tomorrow will be 2 years to the day that this all happened. Can you remember the reactions? Funny how time heals most wounds.