I live in Colorado. It's been Moore/Bertuzzi radio 24-hours-a-day since the incident. I do find it compelling, but I assume it is not as big an issue outside of Vancouver maybe.
No offense, but this is pretty good evidence of the lack of understanding on the part of Americans of how big hockey is in Canada. Not picking on you specifically Thomas, but your quote helps to illustrate a pint.
This is a huge issue in Canada. All of it. I live in Winnipeg, former home of the Jets, now Coyotes (ptui). Our AHL team is the farm team for the Canucks, but for most of us there is no love for Vancouver as we played in the same division as them. Nonetheless, this has been a lead story on the news each day since it happened. On TSN and Sportsnet or whatever our other channel is called, this has circumvented 80% of their other program. Hockey is our game and this dominates coffee talk across the country.
I suspect, and this may be my own arrogance, that most places in the US have barely batted an eye at the event, other than to write it off as typical hockey barbarism.
That said, I completely agree with you. Bertuzzi is a thug and the intent was clear. The critical point that no one mentions is that when Naslund was interviewed the day after being hit by Moore, the event that precipitated this, he stated that it was a clean hit and he shouldn't have had his head down. The first
victim said that. Sure, the Canucks may not have believed him, but the league made their ruling. May
fought Cooke earlier in the game. Yes, a lame fight, but he stood up to it. The mentality I cannot comprehend is that Moore was supposed to keep fighting until he was hurt? Who the hell thinks like that?
I have no doubt Bertuzzi did not mean to crack vertebrae and probably didn't mean to knock him out, though I doubt had a single punch merely knocked him out cold that Bertuzzi would have been anything other than gloating.
A long time ago a Jet named Jimmy Mann hit someone like that. He was regarded as a coward and a cheapshot artist. Why the difference? Not one of the games stars.
The league is seriously messed up right now. Bettman needs to realize that his vision may not be the ideal for the game. The league also needs to realize that modifications are necessary. Right now they cannot do that as the players do not share that vision. I do believe fighting should be allowed. But fighting involves both guys facing each other, both guys dropping their gloves, both guys or neither wearing visors. Size matters not. There is no honor, no courage in coldcocking a guy from behind/beside. Had Bertuzzi not hit him, Moore would have been regarded as a chicken/turtle or otherwise.
I think Bertuzzi is genuinely remorseful. For what, I remain unconvinced.