Arber Xhekaj Modern Day Bertuzzi Attack

[EdJovanovski]

Literally nothing in that is similar to the Bertuzzi incident.

He has a helmet and Xhekaj has a hockey glove. The potential outcome is at worse some discomfort in your neck muscles.

Steve Moore had a helmet and Bertuzzi had a hockey glove too, and he got 3 fractured neck vertebrae & his career ended. That is obviously not true

 

[Namikaze Minato]

Leaf scrub getting pimp-slapped after a vicious cheapskate knee on Laine...what a beautiful way to start off the 2025 season!

Watching Laine walk down the tunnel after a gross knee on knee is not a beautiful start to the season in any way.

But sure, if gloved rabbit punches to an AHLer makes up for that, power to ya.

 

[EdJovanovski]

I think the comparison is a little exagerated, Xhekaj didn't land a single punch, and it wasn't a sucker punch from behind that made the victim fall on his head. Xhekaj was checking Pare for a couple seconds before he started throwing punch. Also, Pare knew what Xhekaj was doing, so he could protect himself even if he's too much of a coward to engage in the fight.

Bertuzzi was following him tugging his jersey egging him into a fight exactly like this prior to the punch

 

[LTIR]

Literally nothing in that is similar to the Bertuzzi incident.

He has a helmet and Xhekaj has a hockey glove. The potential outcome is at worse some discomfort in your neck muscles.

Let Xhekaj do it to Larkins or Raymond then and shrug it off as nothing.
That was major pounding from behind.

 

[BerthMania]

Let Xhekaj do it to Larkins or Raymond then and shrug it off as nothing.
That was major pounding from behind.

You forget to add some context. In your example did Larkin or Raymond just intentionally injure one of Xhekaj's teamate?

 

[trellaine201]

Should be a major suspension. Totally retaliatory.

 

[Legion34]

Bertuzzi blindsided Moore and slammed his head into the ice, Xhekaj was feeding shots to a guy down on his knees.

Neither a good look but very different scenarios

Back of the head is an incredibly dangerous thing. People go into comas and have catastrophic brain injuries.

It wasn’t just jumping a player. That was incredibly dangerous.

 

[EdJovanovski]

You forget to add some context. In your example did Larkin or Raymond just intentionally injure one of Xhekaj's teamate?

Steve Moore injured Bertuzzi's superstar teammate too

 

[Three On Zero]

Back of the head is an incredibly dangerous thing. People go into comas and have catastrophic brain injuries.

It wasn’t just jumping a player. That was incredibly dangerous.

And? Still not comparable to the Bertuzzi incident

 

[Korpse]

I think the comparison is a little exagerated, Xhekaj didn't land a single punch, and it wasn't a sucker punch from behind that made the victim fall on his head. Xhekaj was checking Pare for a couple seconds before he started throwing punch. Also, Pare knew what Xhekaj was doing, so he could protect himself even if he's too much of a coward to engage in the fight.

It’s an exaggerated in the sense that the outcome is different but the action is very similar.

 

[Guess]

He should get a bonus.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Love it , refs fault btw

 

[MoreMogilny]

Back of the head is an incredibly dangerous thing. People go into comas and have catastrophic brain injuries.

It wasn’t just jumping a player. That was incredibly dangerous.

Yup. A quick google search will provide some examples of what can happen with a punch to the back of the head. Even innocent looking ones can change someone’s life quickly.

 

[LTIR]

You forget to add some context. In your example did Larkin or Raymond just intentionally injure one of Xhekaj's teamate?

My example was quoting someone stating that a guy wearing a helmet getting pounded by someone wearing gloves is a sore neck at worst.

 

[SheldonJPlankton]

Reminds me of when Kessel brutally axed at John Scott in a pre-season match and when Sundin spear-chucked his broken stick at spectators in the stands.

Well, not really. Those two were clearly worse.

 

[Legion34]

And? Still not comparable to the Bertuzzi incident

It’s a lot closer than you think in terms of intent. Of course the injuries aren’t the same.

Spend 5 minutes on YouTube and see fighters who got rabbit punched. It’s illegal in all combat sports.

You can kick a guy in the head but can’t do that.

 

[le_sean]

That was a modern day Bertuzzi attack the way a car crash is a modern day 9/11 lmao

Yeah what a load of shit for a thread title lol

 

[Guess]

He absolutely should be suspended for this.

Pare deserved to get his ass beat. But if he’s unwilling you cannot punch a guy repeatedly in the back of the head. If you think that’s acceptable even once then you don’t understand the potential outcome of that action.

Let's see if you say the same thing if Matthews get injured by a random player who then refuses to fight and cowers while getting beat by Reaves.

 

[WatchfulElm]

I'm totally against unjustified violence in the NHL.

But this is 100% on the refs. By not ejecting Paré off the ice after the Laine dirty hit, they are basically telling the players to do their own justice. Totally predictable.

This 2 minutes sequence is everything that's wrong with the NHL. Solve the reffing problem, and you'll solve a big part of the violence problem.

 

[ReimanSum1908]

What did the Leafs player do? Not that I’m blaming the victim, but some context would be insightful

Intentionally took out Laine with a knee-on-knee that is likely - by the look of things - to have him laid up in rehab for the year. From the impact and his reaction, I'd say he's blown both his ACL and MCL (pure speculation - we've heard nothing yet).

Pare should have been ejected for his hit.

Xhekaj should be suspended.

Failure on the referees' part created the situation, but Xhekaj bears full responsibility.

 

[BM14]

Typical weak play by MTL.

 

[sabremike]

1) Definitely getting a significant suspension.

2) His teammates will gladly take up a collection to cover any of his lost pay/fines.

 

[Three On Zero]

It’s a lot closer than you think in terms of intent. Of course the injuries aren’t the same.

Spend 5 minutes on YouTube and see fighters who got rabbit punched. It’s illegal in all combat sports.

You can kick a guy in the head but can’t do that.

No, it really isn’t a lot closer than I think.

 

[HuGo Sham]

That’s a nice still. Leading with knee and looks like a break for Laine. What a POS. May have ended Laine’s career.

in his 4th f***ing period of play in mtl. Vs a scrub. Of course Arber was livid.

 

[MoreMogilny]

Let's see if you say the same thing if Matthews get injured by a random player who then does the same thing getting beat by a Reaves.

Emotional responses happen.

It doesn’t make it okay.

Habs fans would be up in arms if one of their guys was getting punched in the back of the head by one of the biggest and strongest guys in the league. Anyone who says otherwise is lying.