EVERY TIME the National Hockey League makes headlines with a particularly ghastly bit of on-ice thuggery, a chorus of tut-tutters laments the “violent culture” that besmirches an otherwise magnificent sport. In most cases, these handwringers come off as ignorant fusspots: folks who never played hockey–and, to borrow from the famous Al Michaels quip, wouldn’t know a blue line from a clothesline–yet apparently feel qualified to deliver a verdict on the game’s flaws. Genuine hockey fans, whatever their own thoughts on NHL goonery, don’t have much truck with these people.
So it pains me–really pains me–to admit when the handwringers get one right. But such is the case when it comes to Todd Bertuzzi, the Vancouver Canucks winger who sucker-punched, pile-drived, and nearly killed Colorado Avalanche center Steve Moore in March 2004. No, Bertuzzi didn’t get off scot-free: He was suspended for the rest of 2003-2004 season–13 regular-season games, plus the playoffs. And while everyone missed the 2004-05 campaign, due to a lockout, the NHL also barred Bertuzzi from playing in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, the past two world championships, and any European league. All told, he received a 17-month banishment–the longest in NHL history–and lost over $500,000 in salary: a nice piece of change, but only a thin slice of $5.2 million, his projected remuneration for 2005-2006.
