The Trouble with Hockey

Todd Bertuzzi is a forward with the Detroit Red Wings. He should not be. He should not be in the National Hockey League at all. He should be in jail, or at least under a heavy probation. At the very least, he should have been permanently barred from the NHL. That he is not tells us what's wrong with the sport of hockey today.

Most fans of the game know about Bertuzzi. He was involved in a famous incident in which he viciously attacked Colorado player Steve More from behind, causing him severe injuries and apparently ending the man's career (he has not played since). Though there have been civil suits filed against him and the league disciplined him (the fourth longest suspension in its history), Bertuzzi suffered no criminal penalty.

He should have. What happens on the ice (or playing field, arena, stadium, and so on) is as subject to criminal prosecution as anything on the street. If Bertuzzi had have mugged Moore off ice he would have surely faced assault charges. Yet as hockey fans will, Detroiters have accepted Bertuzzi into their hearts with no regard to his tactics and history.

It is bad enough that hockey tolerates fighting as 'part of the game'. No other sport that I know (outside of actual fighting matches of whatever ilk) allows fighting. You get kicked out of the game if you do. Hockey ought to treat it similarly if it wants any credibility for itself as a sport.

I do not doubt that Bertuzzi is sincerely remorseful about the incident. I do not deny that, relative to the game and his own earning capacity, he has faced significant trial and financial harm. Yet it ought to be worse than it is. He wrecked a man's life. He should be held more accountable for his actions.

Hockey Nuts

I like Ice Hockey. It is a fast paced, active game, and hence its allure. What I have little stomach for are hockey nuts, players and fans alike.

Take Sean Avery. He's been on the hot seat lately for making disparaging remarks about a former girlfriend. That should not surprise any guy; exes crab about the dumped other or the one who walked out all the time, and it's not limited to the male of the species. Still, Mr. Avery was particularly crass. For that, he has been seen as a pariah, suspended for I think 6 games, and berated to the point that I have heard several hockey nuts of the fan type saying that he should never play in the National Hockey League again.

Look, the guy is a jerk. But to insist he should never play hockey again is way beyond a reasonable objective reaction. Especially considering that all he was being, however indefensible, was crude. This coming from people who have defended Todd Bertuzzi as a mere hockey player doing his job as an enforcer when he stalked a player and viciously attacked him, ending the guy's career. That, I've had explained to me numerous shallow times, is 'just part of the game.'

Calling a woman names is worse than criminal assault. Until the hockey nuts out there can get away from such a dumb mentality, their sport deserves to hold second class status among our major leagues.