neocell said:
Completely agree with you here. Moore got what he deserved.
I'm not going to go that far, nobody deserved that.
Unforunately what Moore and Bertuzzi got was a buildup of a situation that the NHL has been creating for a long time ... no accountability. This situation of on-ice vengence / protection has been building for too long, because of a league reluctance to deal with the enforcer issue, and an inexplicable inability to hold referees accountable for their mistakes.
Had Moore gotten even a 2 minute penalty for that hit, it would have defused the situation.
Had the league instituted a penalty for that hit, it would have defused that situation.
Heck, had the league even admitted their refs made a mistake (with 2 refs and 2 linesmen on the ice, how do things like this get missed?) it would have defused the situation.
Instead the league sent a clear message that if you don't protect your players on the ice, nobody will protect them, and set up the situation. It was one that had been building for a long time in a lot of different teams, and this is where it blew up.
if Bertuzzi did exactly the same thing but Moore didn't break his neck, it would have been a major and a game misconduct and maybe 1 or 2 more games MAX. Bertuzzi was being railroaded because Moore has weak vertebra, penalize the play, not the injury.
Exactly. Had Moore landed differently and not been seriously injured, that would have been a major and a game misconduct, which I completely disagree with: If you tackle somebody that way you should be gone for a long time.
The league is punishing the result, and not the action. As long as they do that, players will take the risk knowing the odds are it won't be too bad. It's just setting somebody up for an even more serious injury.
The scary thing is that nothing has been done to resolve this, and an article in our local paper pointed out that the updates to the instigator rule (severe penalties in the last 5 minutes) is just going to increase the headhunting because the other team doesn't dare retaliate in any way.
BTW IMO Moore is doing himself no favours at this point. I agree that he has a right to sue, given he might not work again, but given that the crime was committed in Vancouver, by a Vancouver resident, investigated by the Vancouver police, and brought to criminal trial in Vancouver, why (other than the obvious) is he bringing the lawsuit forward in Colorado? What does the Colorado justice system have to do with this?
Any who... I think the Penguins will be very interesting to watch. They picked up a whole lot of talent and if the refs really do start to call the new rules it would help them out a lot. Will be a very interesting season
The Penguins will be interesting.
The Pacific Division is going to be devestating -- Colorado, Calgary, Vancouver, Minnesota, and Edmonton fighting it out is going to be a last man standing situation.
Seriously, though, it will be an entertaining season for sure, and if there was ever a year where anything could happen, this would be it. I'm sharing a season ticket with a friend of mine, so I'll be able to make it to at least 21 games this year.
