On March 8th, 2004, we saw one of the most dirty hits in hockey when Todd Bertuzzi broke Steve Moore's neck. Moore, then playing for the Avalanche, hit Markus Naslund, Bertuzzi's (right) linemate in a vicious, but very clean hit.Bertuzzi and the Canucks vowed to get Moore back in the next game. Bertuzzi followed Moore around, tugging his jersey, slashing him a bit with the stick in order to get Moore (who was much smaller) to drop gloves.
Moore did not. In response, Bertuzzi sucker punched Moore in the side of the head, and Moore instantly lost consciousness. Bertuzzi's weight followed him to the ground and his head smashed into the ice, breaking his neck. The whole incident is here.
Bertuzzi played on a team with Donald Brashear in 2000. Marty McSorely, a tough guy most well known from his day with Edmonton and LA Kings as Wayne Gretzky's personal tough guy, was trying to get a fight with Brashear. He wanted none of McSorely. So, McSorely slashed Brashear in the head with his stick, breaking his neck. View it here.
Bertuzzi was suspended for 20 games and lost more than $800,000 in endorsements and pay.
I can't find Bertuzzi's reaction to Brashear, which is too bad. In it he states things like that has no place in hockey, and how the League needs to look at it. It is included in this video, showing the irony of his statements.
Well, when all is said and done, most people had figured that was the last of the very serious incidents for a while.
After the hockey debauchery seen in the last few weeks by Chris Neil and Cam Janssen, I had figured the head shots would go on the decline for a while as well.
I was wrong.
In a NY Islanders vs NY Rangers game, three years to the day after the Bertuzzi incident, Islander tough guy Chris Simon was checked into the boards by Ranger tough guy Ryan Hollweg in another clean hit. It was hard, but nothing over the top or even near controversial. Simon bounced off the board and as Hollweg came near him again to play the puck, Simon slashed Hollweg across the chin with his stick. Hollweg was knocked unconscious for a while. View it here.
Simon was suspended today for twenty-five games (two games longer than McSorley). He will forfeit only about 80,000 dollars.
This is getting to be a ridiculous trend. These guys are athletes, yes, and there is a danger of everything as soon as they step on the ice. With grown men flying up and down the ice on razors to hit people and an eight ounce puck, it will be a rough game. Accidents happen. If anyone remembers Clint Malarchuck in the late 80's with the Sabres (need a reminder? Click here), or even this year, with Mike Knuble and Brendan Shanahan colliding (here).
But these incidents aren't accidents. Janssen, Neil, McSorley, Bertuzzi, and Simon went out to intentionally INJURE other players. Going out to bruise someone? Fine. Make them be a little scared to take that next shot or dig in the corner, that's okay. But to try to INJURE someone, as in take them out of the game, the season, or the league, is absolutely atrocious.
It's getting way out of hand. Hopefully, the message is strong enough this time to ward off any other attacks in the next three months...nay, eternity.
Think of the NHL as a fraternity, for a lack of a better term. These guys are all out there for a minimum of 82 games a year, basically to knock the stuffing out of each other. But like war, there are rules and methods to the madness. Don't hit a player if he isn't in a situation where he can hurt your team. Don't take cheap shots.
Unfortunately, the five people above seem to have no inclinations to following the 'rules' of hitting. It needs to be stopped.
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