Quote Originally Posted by KMacT
I have family in Winnipeg, always hoping that (for example) the Penguins will move to Winnipeg. I feel for you. But I also fear that you are drinking the same water that Canucks fans are drinking. I can see no other explanation. Unless maybe it's because people so rarely see a good hit these days that they can't appreciate one when they see it. Good hits can be devastating, and Naslund now knows that. Bertuzzi? He snapped. Good player. Terrible terrible thing he did. There is no place for that in hockey. None at all. Not even close. Gutless. Cowardly. To favourably compare what Bertuzzi did with what Steve Moore did, is in my opinion quite outrageous and unsupported by any reasonable view of the two incidents.

Kevin
The Moore hit on Naslund was all elbow. With the hard plastic weapons players wear on their elbows these days, Moore could have killed Naslund. Naslund was blind sided, stretched out, and defenseless when Moore elbowed him. Naslund was also the league scoring leader. There was no call. The league did nothing to protect it's top scorer.
Richard. Howe. Hull. Beliveau. Orr. Gretzky. Take a shot like Moore's at any one of those players and you would have been in the hospital, either by the player or a goon. Only the opinions of the fans have changed. On the ice, it's still hands off the stars.
I blame the rest of the Canucks more than Bertuzzi. When Bertuzzi went over the boards to help Jovo in the heat of the battle, he was suspended. One of the Canuck tough guys should have dealt with Moore.
But Moore, cowardly, kept turning his back on Bertuzzi.
When Rocket Richard was suspended for the playoffs, there was a riot in Montreal. In Vancouver there were calls for jail time for Bertuzzi, mostly by non hockey fans.
I have a #44 hanging in my shop window as a sign of support for a guy who got reamed by the league for doing what has always been considered an act of team spirit. He stood up for a teammate, a friend, and his team.
Hockey is a brutal sport at the pro level. There have been goons in the league like Samuelson, who have intentionally kneed several players onto retirement. Others have cross checked players in the face long after the whistle had blown. Many of these acts were done to injure stars heading into the playoffs or Olympics. It's not widely spoken of but it is a reality of hockey. Intentional injury to stars is a problem that hasn't been dealt with since the instigator rule prevented goons from protecting stars.
What would happen to Philly if Crosby was gooned half way through this year and his career ended? The franchise would fold!
The league bears a lot of the responsibility for not dealing with the problem of star protection, for leaving it in the hands of young men in their prime playing a frustrating, violent game full of anger.