Showing posts with label Todd Bertuzzi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Todd Bertuzzi. Show all posts

Saturday, September 06, 2014

Hockey News: Steve Moore/Todd Bertuzzi settlement proves NHL can’t justify culture of revenge

The Steve Moore and Todd Bertuzzi settlement has been reached. I thought this article was worth a read. For those that don't read the Hockey News, they're very anti-fighting and I refer to them as the Anti-Fighting Cabal.  That being said, this was an ugly incident.
Adam Proteau, The Hockey News -- Perhaps they’ll be able to shovel enough money toward future plaintiffs to convince all of them to settle prior to a trial as Moore has. But what keeps owners and league brass awake at night is the lingering fear lucrative payouts won’t protect them forever; that they’ll be called to account in public and under oath; and once that happens, all their empty chatter about “tradition”, “our game” and “the code” will be exposed for what it is: insular, anachronistic, indefensible bunk.

The biggest tragedy/irony of the Bertuzzi/Moore narrative is that both of its main actors were broken by it – Bertuzzi never was the same player – yet hockey and the NHL carried on unscathed despite creating and cultivating the conditions that led to it. The truth is, the game was broken long ago, and in a way that led directly to the events that took place when the Canucks and Avs squared off on March 8, 2004.

The money that’s been paid to Moore does nothing to fix that fissure. Sadly, all it does is leave open the possibility there will be more Todd Bertuzzis, Steve Moores and legal showdowns to come.


Saturday, April 26, 2014

Reputation Reality: You are How You are Seen...Sorta (RW77)

Detroit Red Wings forward Todd Bertuzzi during...
Detroit Red Wings forward Todd Bertuzzi during a game against the Dallas Stars on December 29, 2010. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
There is a huge firestorm (to put it in a G-rated perspective) over recent acts (and past acts) concerning some current NHL players and how the growing priminence of social media is affecting people's perspectives.  Well, let's look at some facts:

Reputation vs. Character

I put this here as a professional courtesy, but.... your reputation isn't your character so much as it is how other people perceive your character to be.  Abraham Lincoln used an analogy of a tree and its shadow to define reputation vs. character where the reputation is the shadow and the tree is who you really are (character).  It makes sense if you step back and look at it.

However, a big part of human nature is the overwhelming need to be respected, appreciated, and for people to know who you REALLY are.  This goes double for public figures like politicians, celebrities, and athletes (especially pro athletes).  The problem isn't that these people make mistakes.  The problem is that social media enables those who follow these people to let as many as millions of other people know almost instantly.  It robs you of context and the ability to get, at times, the benefit of the doubt.  Other times, it just further emphasizes who you really are and that your own perspective of yourself isn't entirely accurate.

In the hockey context, recent tweets likened Matt Cooke to a serial killer.  This is really rather wrong, and this is coming from someone who dislikes Cooke with a passion.  He didn't kill anyone.  He does not show the common psychological profiles attributed scientifically with regular killers, let alone serial killers.  But then again, people would be quick to point out that this is just an exaggeration meant more to make a point rather than to actually call Cooke a killer.  That does not matter in a social media context.  What's in text is in text and the reader is apt to interpret it any way the reader likes.

Social Media and You

Facebook and Twitter (and other social media of the present and past) is what you make of it.  It's a spectacular way to connect, educate, and get to know people.  It's also a great way to stay informed ahead of the fast pace of the world's events at every level of importance.  Likewise, it's also the bane of anyone's existance.  It can destroy careers and make lives miserable.

I maintain that YOU are ultimately responsible for how you appear in the social media world if you are a public figure.  It's a hard lifestyle, but it is the truth.  If you play a physical game, you tend to draw the ire of opposing fans, as an example.  It's very easy to run with an assumption instead of gaining facts.  That's one of the big problems of hacked Twitter accounts, for example.

But when you are a public figure and you go out and do something or say something stupid, you're going to "get it" via everywhere.  Sometimes, it is almost funny in a macabre way (see Lindsey Lohan).  Other times, it is unfortunate.  And other times again, it marks a trend, sometimes one that is hard for friends and family of those who it affects to accept.

Matt Cooke's Reputation

Matt Cooke's reputation is garbage.  And it should be.  Right now, he's like the drunk friend you went out of your way to intervene and get him back on track, to correct his life, and to find a way to once again trust only to watch him purposely and knowingly fall off the wagon in grandiose fashion and now he wants to be taken at his word that it was just a harmless mistake and he won't do it again.  You don't go around claiming to be a changed man and cleaned up his game if you are just laying low for a while before doing it again.

Matt Cooke has fooled the NHL for years and he's been given chance after chance after chance.  After getting in a lot of trouble (whatever that actually was is all guesswork) that saw him get heat from the NHL and sat down by the Penguins, his team at the time, he seemed to clean up his act.  Seemed to.

In truth, Cooke was probably under intense scrutiny for a while and wanted to stay in the NHL so he laid low.  He still worked as a professional in other facets but laid low otherwise.  He had a good season this year with Minnesota and he had a ton of detractors thinking that he's a changed man.  There were many who wanted that to be true (especially Wild fans).  That's not the case.

So why does Cooke get all these chances?  Why does he get do overs?  I realize that a 7 game ban could actually be a season ending suspension, but when is the point that it is enough?

Can he be a changed man?  Is it possible?

The answer is yes.  And here's proof:  #44 for Detroit.... Todd Bertuzzi.

Todd Bertuzzi is, with the exception of maybe Marty McSorley, the man who committed perhaps the worst cheapshot in recent memory.  He got a year's suspension, charged with assault (he plead out of it) and will be back in court September 2014 for a civil suit pertaining to the act.  Sounds like a thug.  Sounds like a criminal right?

He's been suspended a grand total of.... ZERO times since his reinstatement.  ZERO.  In his first year with Detroit, he actually was among the team leaders in receiving the FEWEST penalty minutes!  Is Todd a changed man?

I believe he is.  Is he off the hook?  Not a chance.  Will he be forgiven for his act?  Not likely.  There will be no Bertuzzi statue in front of the Joe Louis Arena or in Vancouver.  But Todd cannot control that.

All he can control is how he acts on the ice.  He is who he is.  And I severely doubt we'll see him participate in a cheap shot of the likes of Cooke's antics for the remainder of his career.  I severely doubt the NHL will be as patient, lenient, and forgiving with Bertuzzi as they have been with Cooke should Bertuzzi commit a cheap illegal act again. 

In the end, I think Cooke's only chance at redemption will occur when the league says "You are reinstated after X games suspension without pay.  The next gross illegal act you commit will be your last as it will result in a permanent banishment from the National Hockey League."  I think then and only then will Cooke truly change.
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Thursday, February 21, 2013

(VIDEO) Taylor Hall cheap shot on Cal Clutterbuck



First off, this is a text book knee-on-knee hit, it's a bush league hit, it's dirty and it deserves a suspension. I do not care that Taylor Hall is a super star.

I also, find it hilarious that Edmonton Oilers fans are defending this hit on twitter tonight. Second; would the NHL referees, please stop rescuing the players that do these hits on the ice. Whenever Matt Cooke or some other hack does something like this, the refs and linesman immediately come to their aid, don't. Screw-em  they deserve what they get. They just hurt someone, they deserve what they get. Hall didn't care about Clutterbuck as he was trying to end his season with that dirty leg check.

Let the players have some say on the ice before you throw them in the box or send them to the locker room. The hockey code demands that an act this be answered to, if not this kind of stuff will fester for a very long time, until you end up with Todd Bertuzzi type incidents.





Buffoon of the day (from a comment on Sports Net)
tbizz17 Feb 22, 2013 9:54 AM in response to: sportsnet_ca Re: Oilers' Hall delivers questionable hit

Clutterbuck's one of the dirtiest players in the league...he deserves every bit of that. If the guy didn't bail out at the last second that's a clean hit...it's when guys start jumping out of the way that knees get tangled...a guy like Clutterbuck should have his head up all the time....he would have done the same thing to Hall if it's the other way around. I'm not a fan of either team, but sometimes you reap what you sow and Cal learned that. He won't miss a game...it's his thing to role around on the ice for a while after a hit...

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Friday, April 13, 2012

Todd Bertuzzi vs Shea Weber


How dare they! A fight in hockey, how unacceptable. As you can see from the reaction on the bench and in the stands, that no on approves of this thugish behavior. Seriously!!! I have never seen anyone get up during a fight and leave a hockey game. The fans love it.

This is how they settle difference in the game of hockey, this is per the "Hockey Code" last game Shea Weber drove Henrik Zetterberg head into the glass at the end of game one, it was an unneeded and unnecessary and dirty hit. So Redwings hack Todd Bertuzzi did the right thing, he challenged Weber to a fight and they settled their difference like men, on the ice.

Lately, we have seen a few of the hockey pundits, most who have never played the game of hockey, call for an all out fighting ban, in all levels of hockey, due to an epidemic of head injuries suffered by players in the NHL.

Of course most if not a majority of these head injuries were the result of illegal and dirty hits. If you don't believe me take a look at this list [click to view list]. You know the dirty hits in question, there are the ones where a guy plants his opponent head long into the boards, the victim lays crumpled up on the ice and refs and linesmen then rush in to rescue the offending player, before the opposition's teammates can get a chance to answer for said hit. [Example of hit] Many of these dirty hits were never properly disciplined. 
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Tuesday, March 29, 2011

EDIT: Todd Bertuzzi elbows Ryan Johnson


The right call was made in this situation (5 minute major and game misconduct) as the Redwing's Todd Bertuzzi elbows former Fighting Sioux forward and current Chicago Blackhawk Ryan Johnson. I don't think that a suspension is coming from the NHL, but who knows with the NHL. Bertuzzi is a repeat offender so the league might take that into consideration.

Bertuzzi will not be suspended for his hit on Ryan Johnson. [detroitnews.com]

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Hacks, agitators and goons; men of dishonor...


There has been a discussion over on Sioux Sports and Hockey Wilderness about players that you hate to play against because they play on the edge, are seen as agitators or even players that are cheap and commit disgusting acts. I have also seen the argument where you’d love to have these players on your team but don’t like them when they play against your team. That’s up for debate and usually seems to be a never ending discussion that takes place from year to year.

I would not cheer for the Boston Bruins or the Minnesota Wild if they signed a hack like Matt Cooke, Todd Bertuzzi or Daniel Carcillo, they would no longer be my favorite teams. There is no way. I would also hope that my favorite team would not challenge my loyalties by signing a questionable player like this. There is too many good players out there to even entertain signing one of these morons.
here are some phrases that get tossed around in sports debate so often that we come to simply over look them. It goes beyond cliche to simply being a part of the vernacular, to being generally accepted as fact. These phrases are sometimes over simplified reaction to a complicated topic, or they are used to simply brush off the opinion of someone you really don't have an argument against.

One of those phrases is, "You would love him if he were on your team." this is almost always in response to the outcry over a player such as Derek Boogaard, Patrik Kaleta, Todd Bertuzzi, Jarkko Ruttu, or in the case of this post, Matt Cooke.

Make the jump and let's discuss, shall we. You really don't have anything better to do, right?

All of this stems from a link that came across Twitter via @Tepherguy. In the upcoming Hockey News issue is a cover story about the top 12 free agents, and Matt Cooke appears to be at the top of that list. The cover of the issue even reads "Matt Cooke is Hockey's Biggest $*&#!... and You'd Love Him if he Played for Your Team."

This phrase is pervasive. It is said about every pest in the NHL, and it is said about every guy who has ever been suspended. Even friend of the blog Greg Wyshynski has said it about Daniel Carcillo.[Read the whole article here]
The players name changes but their brutal gutless cheap acts remain the same. I am sure you can come up with a list of your own, my list includes thugs, players/hacks like Daniel Carcillo, Todd Bertuzzi, Scott Hartnell, Alex Burroughs, Matt Cooke, just to name a few. They're thugs players that are all cut from the same thread. These players lack honor ussualy hide behind a half shield and is no limit to the cheap acts they will commit.

Also, I would include players from the past like Uber Hacks Ulfie "the Turtle" Samuelsson and Claude "the Fraud" Lemieux. Eventually these players get what is coming to them, the hockey code demands it, live by the sword die by the sword. You might even cheer when you see it happen. Matt Cooke got what was coming to him in these three incidents [Kane becomes an instant hero] and [Duncan Keith gives it back to Cooke] and finally [Dustin Brown smokes Matt Cooke]. Lastly, how many people in Boston wanted to give Tie Domi a medal after he smoked Ulfie Samelsson.
BallHype: hype it up!