Red Wings' Tyler Bertuzzi faces ban after delivering sucker punch from own bench

UPDATE: Tyler Bertuzzi has been given a two-game suspension for his actions on Avalanche forward Matt Calvert, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced on Monday.

ORIGINAL STORY: Tyler Bertuzzi did not make friends this weekend.

After nearly sparking a line brawl in an encounter with Brad Marchand on Saturday, the Detroit Red Wings forward 24 hours later delivered a clean, glove-off sucker punch to the mouth of unsuspecting Avs forward Matt Calvert — while standing on his own bench, no less.

While the former was relatively harmless and nearly led to a goalie fight (which, let’s face it, is always entertaining) Bertuzzi’s deliberate and dangerous uppercut on Calvert was a clear violation of anyone’s code.

His intent is clear as day, but the NHL’s Department of Player Safety had a lot to consider while settling on an eventual sanction.

Did Bertuzzi act alone in initiating the confrontation? Was he retaliating to a spear from Calvert? Is Calvert OK?

Or best: how much worse is it to expose the fist first before winding up to deliver the blow?

That should be the overriding detail here, as Bertuzzi distinctly and intelligibly took an extra step to inflict more harm on the opponent.

You receive an automatic 10-game suspension for leaving the bench to fight. While Bertuzzi stayed put, his actions were inherently more dangerous.

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