Sign Of The Impending Apocalypse
As the NHL deadline approached, I was pleased to think that my Red Wings weren't making any desperate attempt to add a veteran player to help us during the final push towards the playoffs. And then, when I woke up this morning, I heard probably the worst news I could have ever imagined: my Red Wings traded for right winger Todd Bertuzzi. I think the most horrifying thought is that Bertuzzi wasn't added as a free agent, the Wings actually WANTED this guy... they actively traded FOR him.
Why do I hate Bertuzzi so much? I suppose it started in the playoff series between Detroit and Vancouver in, um, 2002? I'm not sure which year it was... but it was during the playoffs, and Bertuzzi and Chris Chelios had an epic back-and-forth-type battle. It was then that I realized that Bertuzzi (at 6'3" around 250 lbs) is basically a large thug. There is no finesse to Bertuzzi, as this moron would try to skate through a brick wall rather than skating around it. That was fine when Bertuzzi was young, but (at 32) he's having some injury problems (back surgery has benched him since the fall).
To further prove Bertuzzi is a Neanderthal, I submit the Steve Moore incident. Please allow me to use someone else's words (Wiki's paragraph on the incident) because I frankly get too upset to write coherently: "During another Vancouver-Colorado game three weeks after the Naslund hit, on March 8, 2004... Late in the third period, Bertuzzi began following Steve Moore down the ice attempting to instigate a fight. When Moore ignored him, Bertuzzi punched Moore in the side of the head. Bertuzzi grabbed hold of Moore's jersey before "driving him headfirst into the ice."
At this point, Moore's Colorado teammates retaliated against Bertuzzi, jumping on the prone Moore and Bertuzzi. Moore suffered three fractured vertebrae in his neck, a grade three concussion, vertebral ligament damage, stretching of the brachial plexus nerves, and facial cuts."
In Bertuzzi's defense (oh GOD! I have to defend this asshole??!!), Moore had injured Bertuzzi's Captain Markus Nasland in the two teams' previous meeting... Moore did give Nasland a concussion in that game. But Bertuzzi basically ended Moore's career because he's a big, thuggish baby. Has Moore skated since the incident in 2004? Yes. Has he played NHL hockey? Not even close.
But now he's a Red Wing. We lose the beloved Captain Steve Yzerman this year to retirement and we get this f--kin' guy. Come playoff time I'll still root for my team... but I hope the Wings fans boo Bertuzzi every time he hits the ice. Detroit is better than an asshole like this guy... and, frankly, SHAME ON KEN HOLLAND for thinking we're not. So I'll ask a personal favor of Miss Laura Jeannine... please, please, PLEASE make "Boo Bertuzzi!" shirts for everyone you know in the Detroit area... and boo the shit out of that bitch every time he hits the ice.
As the NHL deadline approached, I was pleased to think that my Red Wings weren't making any desperate attempt to add a veteran player to help us during the final push towards the playoffs. And then, when I woke up this morning, I heard probably the worst news I could have ever imagined: my Red Wings traded for right winger Todd Bertuzzi. I think the most horrifying thought is that Bertuzzi wasn't added as a free agent, the Wings actually WANTED this guy... they actively traded FOR him.
Why do I hate Bertuzzi so much? I suppose it started in the playoff series between Detroit and Vancouver in, um, 2002? I'm not sure which year it was... but it was during the playoffs, and Bertuzzi and Chris Chelios had an epic back-and-forth-type battle. It was then that I realized that Bertuzzi (at 6'3" around 250 lbs) is basically a large thug. There is no finesse to Bertuzzi, as this moron would try to skate through a brick wall rather than skating around it. That was fine when Bertuzzi was young, but (at 32) he's having some injury problems (back surgery has benched him since the fall).
To further prove Bertuzzi is a Neanderthal, I submit the Steve Moore incident. Please allow me to use someone else's words (Wiki's paragraph on the incident) because I frankly get too upset to write coherently: "During another Vancouver-Colorado game three weeks after the Naslund hit, on March 8, 2004... Late in the third period, Bertuzzi began following Steve Moore down the ice attempting to instigate a fight. When Moore ignored him, Bertuzzi punched Moore in the side of the head. Bertuzzi grabbed hold of Moore's jersey before "driving him headfirst into the ice."
At this point, Moore's Colorado teammates retaliated against Bertuzzi, jumping on the prone Moore and Bertuzzi. Moore suffered three fractured vertebrae in his neck, a grade three concussion, vertebral ligament damage, stretching of the brachial plexus nerves, and facial cuts."In Bertuzzi's defense (oh GOD! I have to defend this asshole??!!), Moore had injured Bertuzzi's Captain Markus Nasland in the two teams' previous meeting... Moore did give Nasland a concussion in that game. But Bertuzzi basically ended Moore's career because he's a big, thuggish baby. Has Moore skated since the incident in 2004? Yes. Has he played NHL hockey? Not even close.
Bertuzzi is the one driving the guy's face directly into the ice. In case you didn't know.
Repercussions? Since 2004, Moore has sued the shit out of Bertuzzi: he was charged with Assault (pleaded guilty, by the way... as part of a plea-bargain); there was a lawsuit; there was a civil suit; there were angry words by me. I wouldn't mind if Moore got every penny Bertuzzi makes in the NHL for the rest of his career. The NHL suspended Bertuzzi for the rest of the season and playoffs (which amounting to a whopping 20 games... ooo, harsh) and he didn't play the next season (which was the strike season in which no one played). When the NHL came back from the strike, so did Bertuzzi. I remember when the incident happened, many sportswriters (including Mike Wilbon of PTI) thought Bertuzzi shouldn't be able to play again until Moore can play again. The ol' eye for an eye argument (Exodus 21:23-25 for those of you scoring at home)... and I felt it fit in this instance. Bertuzzi's hit was malicious and, frankly, criminal.But now he's a Red Wing. We lose the beloved Captain Steve Yzerman this year to retirement and we get this f--kin' guy. Come playoff time I'll still root for my team... but I hope the Wings fans boo Bertuzzi every time he hits the ice. Detroit is better than an asshole like this guy... and, frankly, SHAME ON KEN HOLLAND for thinking we're not. So I'll ask a personal favor of Miss Laura Jeannine... please, please, PLEASE make "Boo Bertuzzi!" shirts for everyone you know in the Detroit area... and boo the shit out of that bitch every time he hits the ice.
The new face of the Red Wings!
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