Things aren’t going well anywhere around the Red Wings organization right now. The Wings started 3-0 and have gone 1-5-1 since then. The Griffins have started 1-6, suffering an embarrassing loss to the Toronto Marlies last night, dropping that decision 6-1.
But that’s not the ugliest thing from last night. With 1:15 left to go in the game, tensions boiled over between the Griffins and the Marlies, which ended in Tyler Bertuzzi throwing a number a gloved punches at Kasperi Kapanen before slew-footing and bodyslamming the unwilling participant. Here’s the play, from Jeff Veillette at TheLeafsNation
I would highly recommend reading Jeffler’s take on the situation, including an explanation as to why that referee seems pretty disinterested in stopping Bertuzzi:
The lone official spends his time doing a lot of pointing and yelling. I’m going to assume that he’s staying away from breaking up the situation because he feels it hasn’t escalated yet and because that leaves all three officials with tied hands while four Griffins skate around with two Marlies. This is a case where that third official would be useful.
The match penalty that Bertuzzi was assessed for doing this means the AHL will be looking hard at this incident for supplemental disclipline, which they’re not terribly shy about dishing out. I’m not sure how many games young Bertuzzi needs to get here to get the message that “playing with an edge” does not mean doing dirty shit like this, but that’s the number of games I want him to sit.
I’d also like to see Todd Nelson warned. Ultimately, it’s the coach’s job to police the behavior of his players. I understand that these are young men and the Griffins are in an insanely frustrating spot, but this is a bad, dirty play and there’s no excuse for anybody on the Griffins, Walleye, or Wings to be pulling this crap.
UPDATE: Per a tweet from the AHL, Bertuzzi has been suspended pending further review:
.@TheAHL announces suspensions → https://t.co/bcrunOF0KE
— AHL Communications (@AHLPR) October 31, 2015
Here’s the text from the link:
Grand Rapids Griffins left wing Tyler Bertuzzi and Toronto Marlies center Sam Carrick have been suspended pending the league’s review of their actions during a game between their teams on Oct. 30.
It remains to be seen how long a suspension Bertuzzi is going to get, but it’s likely to be a long one.
