After a week hiatus, Bertuzzdays are back. In case you are new, every Tuesday on Pro Hockey Talk we vote on the ‘bad boy’ of the NHL from the previous week. It can be a player, coach, owner, official...we have no limits. But if they’ve angered anyone, we’ll vote on them.
Here are the previous winners:
1. Matt Cooke
2. Alex Ovechkin
3. Rocky Wirtz
4. Jim Playfair
This week’s nominees:
1. Andrew Alberts. The Canucks defenseman raised the ire of Kings fans for his boarding of Fredrik Modin. Alberts left his feet, and pasted Modin face first into the boards in a classic boarding incident. Fans around hockey seemed to get even more incensed when he was not handed any extra discipline by the NHL. You can see video of the hit here.
2. Johnny Boychuk. This is an interesting case, because Boychuk didn’t necessarily do anything wrong. But he did whine about a hit by Tyler Myers after game 1, in which Myers caught Boychuk with his head down with a big hit that left him a bit dazed. Last night, Boychuk laid out a big, open ice hit of his own on the Sabres’ Matt Ellis. It was a clean, hard hit but it caught Ellis completely unaware. So which is it? Is it fine for him to lay out those hits, but not take them?
3. Mike Murphy. Canucks fans will appreciate this one, but it’s not just because of his perceived bias for the Kings. No, Murphy has caused all sorts of confusion amongst hockey fans today after his ‘explanation’ on why Daniel Sedin’s goal was ruled a kick. He says that while it wasn’t a “distinct kicking motion” as the rules call for, an amendment to the rule that exists on some mysterious DVD clearly shows this sort of goal would not be allowed. Let’s see this supposed DVD, Mr. Murphy.
4. Habs fans. Listen, we get it. You are emotional, and you have one of the most electric venues in the NHL to play hockey. But that doesn’t excuse you from being completely classless at times. Booing the U.S. anthem? Relentlessly booing your own team? Almost bringing your goaltender to tears? Good job. And for those Canadiens fans that do not fall under this umbrella, we apologize.