I'm mostly neutral on the subject of Todd Bertuzzi, but I do believe that wearing an ice hockey sweater and a pair of skates does not give anyone any sort of immunity from the laws and rules that govern human behaviour.

I feel compelled to say that the people who raised objections to Bertuzzi's participation in the 2006 Winter Games now have a right to say, "I told you so." This group of people includes the Canadian Olympic Committee; the ice hockey team was chosen by Hockey Canada, as in Wayne Gretsky and Pat Quinn.

In the mens ice hockey quarterfinal game, Canada and Russia were scoreless after two periods. Early in the third period, Bertuzzi took an interference penalty. While he was sitting in the penalty box, Alexander Ovechkin scored what turned out to be the winning goal.

The penalty Bertuzzi took is commonplace during the 82-game NHL regular season. You're less likely to see penalties like this during Stanley Cup playoffs, when games actually matter. Now, take this a step further. It's very unlikely that you would see a penalty like this in the seventh game of the Stanley Cup final.

Well, the quarterfinal of the Olympic hockey tournament, where the losers go home, is an identical situation.