What the crap?!

Okay, I'm sick to death the way hockey media continues to turn Bertuzzi into a hardened criminal. Bertuzzi's plea of not guilty would suggest that he plans on proving that a cheap shot delivered on the ice is not a federal crime. However, from the sound of the quote below (taken from The Hockey News), you would think that Bertuzzi's fate has already been decided by the common man:

Bertuzzi punched Moore in the head from behind and then jumped on his back and drove him face-first into the ice, knocking him unconscious.

What the bloody shittzle is this guy talking about? Yes, Bertuzzi punched Moore in the back of the head. Yes, it was a cheap shot. But will somebody please take a look at the tape with at least one objective eye? It seems to me that Bertuzzi knocked Moore unconscious before he hit the ice. That one punch was enough to render Moore insensible, thus making his fall inevitable. There is nothing in the tape to suggest that Bertuzzi did anything remotely similar to "jump(ing) on (Moore's) back". The tape still leaves questions about what was going on in Bertuzzi's head after the initial punch. If you look closely (sorry - I couldn't provide the tape...I searched online for about five minutes and then gave up), there is evidence that Bertuzzi's falling on top of Moore may have been due to his tripping on his stick, which clearly hits his skate blade before he falls. Moore was already in the process of crumpling to the ice like a bag of potatoes, and if Bertuzzi really was tripping, then his fall too would be inevitable. But even if he wasn't tripping - even if it was a tackle: the popular statement "he drove him face-first into the ice" is a misleading expression. You're looking at the effect - the fact that Moore's face hit the ice - and putting all the weight of the cause on Bertuzzi and assuming that it was his intention. Even if you don't assume that is was his intention...the language used would create that belief.

When he falls on Moore, his glove again moves towards Moore's face, and while most people have claimed that this is Bertuzzi trying to punch Moore again, there is no way to prove that. Undoubtedly that's what it looks like to the anti-Bertuzzi-biased eye. It has been said by some possessing pro-Bertuzzi-biased eyes that he was protecting Moore's face from the onset of several Colorado players, who created the ensuing dogpile.

For my part, I wouldn't presume to judge which of these two suggestions is true (if either). The only reason I'm going on like this is because I'm sick of people taking the popular route on this one, and assuming that Bertuzzi was out to kill Moore. I'm sick of the media blowing up Bertuzzi's actions into something akin to Charles Manson. It's all about the language used when talking about this issue, and all I'm seeing is a "death to Bertuzzi" bent that I can hardly stand.