[blueandwhite]

I'm not a violent person, I don't condone violence. I do like a rough and tough hockey game. I do like a clean hit. I even like the odd angry brawl.
I am so sick of hearing about Bertuzzi and how he shouldn't have been allowed to play for Team Canada. He was charged and he had his punishment dealt to him. Whether it was too easy or not, it has happened, the court made its decision, and that is over. The civil charges from Moore are still pending. What I hated to hear was how Moore's parents are suing Bertuzzi too, for anguish suffered because of their son's injuries. It sounds to me like it's about $$$ now.
He's a great hockey player. He made a huge mistake. He reacted to a rotten hit on naslund. He's paying for it. Don't we give second chances? Is this a can of worms I'm opening? Is someone going to write back, Steve Moore doesn't get a second chance? Because I know that. I just wonder how long we make Bertuzzi pay for it.

[Lefty Noob]

First of all, I think the Bertuzzi hit on Moore was unbelievably cheap and totally uncalled for. It was one of the more disgraceful things I've ever seen in sports.

That said, I do agree with your points. Has he not already been punished for his crimes by both his employer (the NHL) and by a court of law? Banning him from participating in the Olympics this long after the initial incident would accomplish nothing. Everyone makes mistakes.

The question I want to know is, has Steve Moore forgiven him? If so, then the rest of us need to as well.

[blueandwhite]

I don't think Steve Moore has forgiven him. Do we wait for his lead to say, Then we forgive Bertuzzi too?
Yeah, it was a chin dropping hit. Bertuzzi's answered for it now.
It's all these letters that come in to the papers, people saying how disgraceful we were to have him on the team, we must do the right thing, we must put priniciple above winning.
It is, as you say, about forgiveness. learning and forgiveneness and moving on.

[anrobins]

How can anyone say Bertuzzi was punished? He was suspended from a season that didn't happen. He should be sitting out all of this year. I like hitting in hockey, but his actions crossed the line.

[ThePundit]

Prior to this year in hockey. there were so many similar violent, cheap hits. Bertuzzi's just did the most amount of damage. So in a way, Bertuzzi was the "fall guy" for a league which had let rough play and cheap shots get out of hand. So in that light, I have some sympathy for the guy.

Remember in general, nothing is ever done about any bad behavior until something bad results from that behavior.

Example: We keep sending up Astronauts in risky conditions until the Challenger blows up in mid-air. Then and only then do we do something about it. And whoever was responsible for sending it up on the day that it blew up catches all the flack. Other people could have taken the same risk in previous launches, but nothing happens to them.

This is the same. I've seen goon after goon do that with their sticks a million times but nobody's neck was every broken. So it was ignored.

Blue & White is right. Bertuzzi's getting sued up the wazoo and for anyone who's ever been sued for large amounts of money for anything, it can be traumatic. He already sat out enough games and should not be prevented from making a living.

(P.S. As an aside, mention the name Bertuzzi and I feel a twinge of pain. As a big time Islander fan, he was dealt in probably the worst trade in NHL history. Mad Mike Milbury traded Bertuzzi and Bryan McCabe for Trevor Linden.)