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Does the NHL have post-concussion
syndrome?
Bertuzzi reinstatement
stinks
8/15/05 - by Mike Lee
I decided to take a break from talking about all the free agency
madness that has been filling out any and all hockey media outlets as of
late.
Thought I'd focus on something a little more controversial and pick on Todd
Bertuzzi for a day. After the Pittsburgh Penguins won the NHL draft
lottery
three weeks ago, Bertuzzi followed up with a lottery victory of his own.
The
reinstatement lottery that is. Only question is which lottery was more
fixed
by the NHL?
Bertuzzi, as you may recall, almost ended the life of Colorado Avalanche
forward Steve Moore during the 2003-04 season. NHL commissioner Gary
Bettman
and his band of disciplinarians dropped what was perceived as a hammer on
Bertuzzi after they suspended him for the final 13 games of the 2003-04
season
and all of the playoffs that year.
The league was granted a reprieve in deciding on Bertuzzi's fate because of the
lockout that cancelled the 2004-05 season, but Bettman elected to grant the
Canucks star a get out of jail free card by clearing Bertuzzi for the
upcoming
season.
``It's difficult to see that he's able to play again when I still have a long
way to go, and not just in hockey, but with my health,'' Moore said in
Thursday's Denver Post.
The fog cleared long enough for Moore to hit that one on the head.
I'm not one of those anti-blood sport imbeciles who is screaming for wholesale
bans on fighting in the game, or anything else that takes the intensity
away
from this fabulous game. I am in favor of throwing the book at ignorant
and
selfish behavior that could have ended a man's life. Forget the fact that
Moore may never play hockey again. Think about the quality of life Moore
could
have been faced with had his spinal cord been more severely damaged.
Think about the life that Moore may have forfeited because Bertuzzi couldn't
control the savage evil in his nature.
Yes, this is beyond exacting revenge during a game, or paying Moore back for
earlier transgressions. This goes way beyond that.
And now three weeks after his clean collective bargaining agreement "win",
Bettmen attempts to help one of his employers by reinstating one of the
biggest
local draws in town, regardless of the fact that it probably cost another
player their career.
Bettmen has been spouting off for the last four weeks about how the NHL needs
to repay the fans and earn back their trust. This could have been an easy
way
to help foster some of the trust back. Extending Bertuzzi's suspension
well
into this season would have sent a clear message.
Bettmen's choice only shows that there is either an eagerness to get Vancouver
fans back into GM place, or the league isn't prepared to go to the mat
again
against the player's association in order to resolve this dispute.
It was also an opportunity for the Player's Association to start self policing
themselves. They should have exacted support for the suspension. But it's
been made very clear that the players only have their own interests in
mind.
Allowing a prolonged unstructured suspension to drag on means that it could
be
imposed on any one of them someday, and that means not getting paid.
The NHL and NHLPA need to join the rest of society and buck up to the rules
that the real world lives by.
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