Evil on Ice

So yesterday was the trade deadline for the NHL. A number of interesting trades were announced, including Scott Parker coming home to the Avalanche (Woot), Ryan Smyth heading to the Islanders (while not a big Smyth fan - Vancouver fans must be reeling), and the king of cheap shots, Todd Bertuzzi is now a Red Wing.

Being an Avalanche fan - the Red Wings easily sit at the top of my "most hated hockey teams" list. With that being said, I find myself happy with this trade.

When Bertuzzi was a Canuck, I didn't like him even before his blind siding Steve Moore. While he's semi-talented, he's always been a thug on the ice. This incident only cemented my belief that players like Todd Bertuzzi don't belong on the ice. I could go into the many reasons I hate Bertuzzi, but that's really not the point of this entry.

My point is that now I have another beautiful reason to hate the Red Wings. With one trade, they have become a nice, concentrated source of hockey evil.

I'm looking forward to going to the next game against the Red Wings and booing #44 to my hearts content, an action that wasn't nearly as satisfying when he played for Florida.

Peter McNab put it pretty well (paraphrased), "Bertuzzi is a big, strong forward that plays a physical game. Detroit's got a lot of talent and they could use a player like that."

Maybe it's my biased ears, but that to me says "All the other Detroit players are skilled, they need a thug." Since Detroit lost McCarty, this is definitely true...

Of course I still hope Bertuzzi spends the rest of his career on IR (only fitting), but if he has to play, let it be for the Wings - I look forward to booing my throat raw!