EVERY TIME the National Hockey League makes headlines with a particularly ghastly bit of on-ice thuggery, a chorus of tut-tutters laments the "violent culture" that besmirches an otherwise magnificent sport. In most cases, these handwringers come off as ignorant fusspots: folks who never played hockey--and, to borrow from the famous Al Michaels quip, wouldn't know a blue line from a clothesline--yet apparently feel qualified to deliver a verdict on the game's flaws. Genuine hockey fans, whatever their own thoughts on NHL goonery, don't have much truck with these people.

So it pains me--really pains me--to admit when the handwringers get one right. But such is the case when it comes to Todd Bertuzzi, the Vancouver Canucks winger who sucker-punched, pile-drived, and nearly killed Colorado Avalanche center Steve Moore in March 2004. No, Bertuzzi didn't get off scot-free: He was suspended for the rest of 2003-2004 season--13 regular-season games, plus the playoffs. And while everyone missed the 2004-05 campaign, due to a lockout, the NHL also barred Bertuzzi from playing in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, the past two world championships, and any European league. All told, he received a 17-month banishment--the longest in NHL history--and lost over $500,000 in salary: a nice piece of change, but only a thin slice of $5.2 million, his projected remuneration for 2005-2006.

Was that punishment enough? Yes, says NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, who recently gave Bertuzzi the green light to return. "I find that the appropriate discipline to be imposed for Mr. Bertuzzi's conduct on March

Asked by reporters about his reinstatement, Bertuzzi waxed metaphysical. "I'm a firm believer in second chances," he said. "If we're going to go through life not giving anyone second chances, then what kind of life are we going to have around here?" Deep thoughts. He also added a few morsels of contrition: "People make mistakes in life. Unfortunately, I was under the microscope and on TV when my mistake happened."

Those dastardly TV broadcasts. Without television, we might have been spared the terrifying images of the 6-3, 245-pound Bertuzzi whacking the 6-2, 205-pound Moore in the back of the head and then driving his face into the ice. People might not have understood the sheer brutality of his misdeed. But, alas for Bertuzzi, anyone tuning in to SportsCenter for days and weeks afterward witnessed the horrific replay.

As you might be guessing by now, I haven't exactly broken out the noisemakers and silly hats to celebrate Bertuzzi's vaunted comeback. I would rather see him remain in the dock until, well, at least until Steve Moore is physically able to play again. Of course, that day may never come. Moore can count himself lucky he isn't paralyzed. Heck, he's lucky he isn't dead.