March 10, 2004

'Street Justice'? Last night in a NHL game between the Colorado Avalanche and the Vancouver Canucks, Vancouver forward Todd Bertuzzi completely sucker punched and tackled Colorado rookie Steve Moore This resulted in Moore being taken off the ice on a stretcher with a severe concussion and a fractured neck. Vancouver Police are now investigating the incident

Bertuzzi's hit was in retaliation for Moore's actions back in February, when he inflicted a concussion on Vancouver captain Markus Naslund in a controversial hit. The law in the NHL is not a new thing. This situation is reminscint of Marty McSorley's slash on Donald Brashear in 2000, after which McSorley was charged and received an 18 month discharged sentence. Bertuzzi's actions, though very extreme, are seen by many as being the 'street justice' of the NHL, where players are able to police themeslves internally and deal with punishment and conflict through on-ice means. These events do raise a number of questions that I believe are worth discussing: Does the NHL (other professional sports) have the right to police themselves? Where do you draw the line between competition and illegal violent acts? Does the long arm of the law have a place in professional sports?

posted by bah 20 years ago
  • To add, I just of found this article that gives a good overview of criminal charges in sports.
  • I'm a hockey fan. I will say "street justice" will not change until either the fans or laws stop it. Gary Bettman is too spineless to do so. The truth is the NHL is mild compared to the 70s. The problem is guys are bigger and getting injured more.
  • Sports player attacks another sports player. Film at 11.
  • Good post, I was going to do the same, but yours is better than mine would have been anyways. I'm still too pissed at Bertuzzi to offer any real comment. I'm ashamed to be a Vancouver fan today, and even more ashamed to be a hockey fan.
  • The truth is the NHL is mild compared to the 70s this is so true. i had seasons tickets for the toronto maple leafs during the 70's and saw some of the most brutal attacks. i remember one game where pat boutette so viciously beat his opponent there was blood everywhere, spreading out from centre ice like a flood. no one did anything, they just let him sit on top of the other player, wailing away on him. i don't think i've seen anything as bad since then, but as you say the guys are so much bigger nowadays - more injuries it seems because of it. i think part of the problem is the league expanded too fast, watering down the talent. some of these guys look like they're frankenstein's monster without any brain whatsoever. just a lot of tree trunks on blades, who have a sort of thug mentality. everyone i know disagrees with me on this tho'. personally i don't have any problem with the police investigating, and laying charges. there's no way the league is capable of policing itself in it's current state. gary bettman... gah. a most horrible little troll of a man. makes me feel violent, heh.
  • I've never been a big fan of hockey, and this is one of the reasons why. Hockey always made me think of a bunch of thugs on skates. A great majority of players in pro sports realize that it's just a game -- and that they are some of the lucky few who get paid to play a game. Names like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordon, Wayne Gretzky, John Elway, and Brett Farve (You my boy, Farve!) are just a few of the names that spring to mind. Then you've got the other group of guys. The guys who, without their hulking mass, or uncanny skill, would have difficulty living in society. (According to the book Pros and Cons: The Criminals Who Play in the NFL, 21% of players in the 1996 - 1997 NFL season had been arrested or indicted for serious crimes ranging from fraud to homicide.) Basketball has been referred to as the "sweet science". Baseball is "America's past-time". Sure, football is violent game, but when was the last time you saw a fight break out during an NFL game?
  • when was the last time you saw a fight break out during an NFL game? Isn't that because the fight is the game...
  • Bertuzzi's actions may have been in retaliation for Moore's hit on Naslund, but to call Moore's hit "controversial" is a definite overstatement, seeing as the hit was clean and legal (a fact acknowledged by both the league and Naslund himself). Yes, Naslund suffered a concussion and will miss several games, but getting injured in the course of normal gameplay is an understood risk accepted by every player every time they lace up their skates and get out on the ice. To any fan of hockey (or of any team sport for that matter), it is clear that Vancouver needed to 'retaliate' for the injuries inflicted on their teammate, their captain. However, there is a time, a place, and an "honor code" for such behaviors. Bertuzzi's hit was not only dirty, it was an act of cowardice, of frustration (at the humiliating defeat the Canucks were being subjected to at the hands of the Avalanche), and of desperation (after not being able to provoke Moore into a "fair" fight). Even a non-devastating attack on Moore at that point in the game would seem like petty venting, much like Brad May's attempts to goad goalie David Aebischer into a fight following his (and Vancouver's) first two goals. Further, not only were Bertuzzi's actions dirty from a hockey standpoint, they were unconscionable from a civilized, human standpoint, akin to chucking a brick at the back of an opponent's head after they have bested you in a fair contest. Bertuzzi deserves at least the 1-year suspension levied on Marty McSorley, and should be forced to defend his actions in a courtroom as well.
  • The hockey league could have nipped this is the bud years ago - simple no-tolerance for violence on the ice. It's a game of skill, or at least it used to be. But nevermind. I'm off to watch the truly Canadian sport, beautiful elegant curling.
  • Watch out for the curling thugs.
  • Basketball has been referred to as the "sweet science" actually i think that is boxing. keith talent, i agree, i am a bit ashamed to be a canuck fan today. but lets be clear here: bertuzzi wanted to give the guy a thrashing. he did not want to nearly kill him. he was stupid and will pay for it, likely both from his conscience as well as his pocket. lets all hope, regardless of your opinion on hockey or violence in sports, that moore recuperates fast and well. he and his family are in my thoughts tonite.
  • Owl & Keith Talent: Don't be ashamed, you still have an upstanding city. After all, you guys are the ones who prosecuted McSorley. As for Bertuzzi, not only should he get a year's suspension, but he should have to spend that year in jail. Plus, when the year is up, he should be banished to the Siberia of the NHL: Washington, DC. Yes, I admit it, I'm a Caps fan. [sigh] And yes indeed, I'm hoping Moore makes a speedy recovery.
  • InfraMonkey - I think it's pretty fair to call Moore's previous hit on Naslund controversial. The canucks thought that the hit was illegal and that he should be suspended. Just because the league ruled in Moore's favor and said that the hit was legal, it doesn't take away from any of the controversy that was created by it. I think Bertuzzi should get more than the 1 year that McSorley got. His hit sure looks like it was premediated, cruel and completely for revenge purposes. It was sick and designed only to injure.
  • ...the truly Canadian sport...curling... Ahem.
  • "Last night I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out." (old one)
  • Ahem, ahem!
  • Curling is much more fun that it looks. You slide around on ice, you drink beer... what's not to like? How anybody could watch curling, however, still escapes me. Like watching golf. Or watching bass fishing. Or watching jewelry repair. /derail
  • Not to beat a long derailed horse, but I saw an interesting interview with Todd Bertuzzi on Sportscenter last night. He was clearly filled with disgust at needless, senseless, gutless hockey violence. Oh yeah, did I mention this interview took place just after Marty McSorley's attack on Bertuzzi's then-teammate Donald Brashear?
  • well bertuzzi is gone for the season, the playoffs, and the commissioner will rule before the start of training camp next year whether or not he can play, he is fined roughly 500k, and the canucks get fined 250K as well. i think in general that is fair. i have watched a lot of vehement rhetoric fly around as a result of this, most of it useless drivel. inframonkey, bert certainly said those things, but that was then, this is now, and its a world of difference. want some more juicy irony? granato was once suspended for 15 games by brian burke (then the leagues disciplinarian) for breaking his stick over a players head. any intent to injure there? bertuzzi is pretty clearly very sorry and upset (link to real video) about it. while bert may bear the brunt of the responsibility for this incident, everyone associated with hockey, everyone, from the league execs to the coaches to the players to the fans bears responsibility for creating an atmosphere in which this kind of thing could even possibly occur. /rant on a brighter note, looks like moore will recover fully.
  • ...everyone associated with hockey, everyone, from the league execs to the coaches to the players to the fans bears responsibility... They showed the footage on the news here and I couldn't get over the way the crowd cheered during the beating. (There might have been action elsewhere on the rink that they were cheering, but somehow I doubt it.)
  • tracicle, they did cheer, but that all stopped once they knew that moore wasn't getting up. mostly. there are bad people everywhere. i forgot a key player in my rant...the media. lets not forget the role they played in hyping the so-called bounty, or how they love to talk about a good fight (see the sens/philly game for more on that).