Monday, July 2, 2007

Infamy Meets the OC

The infamous Todd Bertuzzi has signed a two-year deal with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks worth $8 million. While one of our soon-to-be contributors will surely cry foul, or just plain cry, I can't help but admit that Big Bert is a perfect fit for the team-toughness centric Ducks. He's got the size, nastiness and scoring touch that Brian Burke, Anaheim's GM, loves with a boiling passion. Of course, Burke's familiarity with the big power forward from his days as the Canucks' GM doesn't hurt either. Now whether or not his injury-prone corpse is worth $4 million a year is debatable but if he stays healthy this could be a great addition for the Ducks.

Now the question is Selanne and whether or not the fact that the money that could have been considered HIS money is now ear-marked for Mr. Bertuzzi signals the retirement of the great forward.

One other note on Bertuzzi and it's just my personal opinion. I think he's a great example of what happens when people judge and persecute based on the result of an action and not the intent. If Moore doesn't get knocked out by the punch, his neck doesn't get broken and we never think about the event again. If Moore gets knocked out and taken away on a stretcher but doesn't break his neck we STILL would never mention it in the same breath as the McSorley incident. Frankly, we'd never mention it at all. Now I agree that he deserved to be punished and, frankly, he probably deserved the punishment he got since he inflicted serious injury with a cheap shot. However, I think it's important to note that we see dangerous plays in every hockey game, we see THAT play (a punch to the back of the head) in almost every game, and we never flinch because no one leaves on a stretcher. If Pronger's nasty hit from behind in the playoffs on Holmstrom would have broken his neck or fractured his orbital bone would he be hated as much as Bertuzzi has been? I'm not sure but since it only split Holmstrom's face open no one cares.

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