Bertuzzi Overload

Unless you have been in a coma or living under a mountain, you should have heard that the circus which is the Todd Bertuzzi v. Steve Moore saga came to a stop in New York this past week, in hopes that the NHL will reinstate Bertuzzi.

Now, the fact of the matter is that Steve Moore is still in traction suffering from Post Concussion Syndrome. His agent is saying that it's too soon to reinstate Bertuzzi because his client is still far off from attempting a comeback. I think the fact he's suing for monetary damages against most of the Canucks organization blackballs him for life, but that's another story entirely.

The vast majority of people would like to see Bertuzzi stay out until Moore is able to come back. That is not only absurd, but horribly out of the question. The NHL doesn't want to this to continue to be open-ended, for the fact it could look bad on them because they can't make a decision on an amount of time something like this should entail. The fact of the matter is that the NHL probably wants this black eye to heal as much as the people involved.

But what's going to happen to Todd Bertuzzi??

Many have said he has paid his dues and should be reinstated. Other, like I said above, do not think the same way. The reality of the thing is that the NHL will have to cover all it's bases when it comes to making people happy. I would not in the least be surprised if the NHL suspended the Canucks forward for at least 10 more games, but no more than 20 games once the NHL starts playing their games again. That way-- Bertuzzi is allowed to get in shape to play again and maybe seek employment in Europe and Moore's camp is happy because they see that the NHL is punishing the combatant for the crime; though they are out for blood.

But why is everyone feeling sorry for Steve Moore in all this?? Here's a guy who is a victim of the laws of Karma. He gave a head-shot to Markus Naslund (which sparked this whole debacle) and then, not long after that, he cross-checks Martin St. Louis into the boards from behind, and skates around like he's king of the world. This is why the NHL needs to relook the whole Instigator rule. If someone like a Dave Semenko-type player would have been able to get his; then I do believe this whole ugliness would have not happened.

Face it, when you have a guy like Steve Moore, a fringe player at best (let's not joke here, folks; facts are fact), who is going after star players like Naslund and St. Louis-- you know things have gone too far.

Then, Bertuzzi takes Moore up and down the ice, chirping at Moore, hooking him for a good 30 seconds waiting for him to turn around and go-at-them, but then Moore doesn't "cowboy-up" to the challenge. Moore is no angel-- he's a scrappy player. Why didn't he decide to go?? Why now, out of all the times he has before, does he decide not to drop them and at least turtle to get this whole situation behind them?? I mean, it was their last meeting of the season and if they tried to do something like this in the playoffs, it would have been too risky to even attempt.

I'm not condoning what Bertuzzi did-- but Karma sucks. You live by the cheap-shot and you die by it too. Bertuzzi will have his come-upping, too when he comes back. It's the ways of life in the world today-- you do something wrong, then you get it back to you.

In the end, this whole situation is going to leave an even bigger black mark on the sport the longer it goes on without knowing what the final decision is going to be. That is where we are at in this juncture. We're waiting for the end of the great unknown. Will things be better when all is said and done?? No, probably not. You can't make everyone happy. You'll see all the people who support one side or the other complaining that the penalty is too harsh, not harsh enough, or something they are too angry to talk about.

This has been ScottyWazz. Take care of yourself and someone else. PEACE!!