Bertuzzi Suspension

[kandrathe]

A story for you: I'm only 5'10", I was about 195 pounds when I was working out all the time, about ten pounds lighter now. Not the biggest guy. In my first year of junior, when I was 16, I hipchecked one of the best players on the other team in the first round of the playoffs. It was a "clean hit" in the sense that it was legal, but I tore this players acl and mcl ligaments. I felt horrible. I actually apologized to the player before the game in the hallway, but I knew that I would have to "nut up" as they say, and "pay the piper". In the first period, I was challenged by a 6'2" enforcer type who was 21 and at the end of his career. I came out of it with a bloody nose, a black eye, and my pride intact. It was a part of the game, and if I was going to take liberties with their star players, I was going to have to pay the price. I accepted that in stepping on the ice.

I prefer my violence to be straight up and in your face, like, boxing, or kick boxing. If some manly egos need to be assuaged, then take it off the ice and make it a WWF type spectacle if that works. But, I prefer my hockey to be about skill, rather than brutes.