Todd Bertuzzi drops gloves with Shea Weber - USA TODAY

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Todd Bertuzzi drops gloves with Shea Weber - USA TODAY Apr 14th 2012, 04:48 By Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press Updated NASHVILLE – What the NHL didn't look after, Todd Bertuzzi did. By Randy Sartin, US Presswire Nashville Predators defenseman Shea Weber and Detroit Red Wings right wing Todd Bertuzzi fight during the first period Friday. By Randy Sartin, US Presswire Nashville Predators defenseman Shea Weber and Detroit Red Wings right wing Todd Bertuzzi fight during the first period Friday. A minute into Friday's Game 2 at Bridgestone Arena, the Detroit Red Wings forward dropped his gloves and took on Nashville Predators defenseman Shea Weber, landing a punch before the two were reduced to holding each other at arm's length. That the Wings won, 3-2, was the key result; that Bertuzzi took on Weber, a key component. The Wings were irate that Weber got away with a mere $2,500 fine after slamming Henrik Zetterberg's head into the glass at the end of Game 1. "I just thought that the incident the other night wasn't part of hockey," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "I haven't seen it since junior hockey. I thought it was unacceptable, and I think sometimes, when things don't get looked after, you have to look after it yourself. "I didn't think things were looked after, at all." Bertuzzi has fought before, and in the playoffs, to stand up for teammates. His latest effort was much appreciated. "Yeah, it is nice to see," Zetterberg said with a smile. "It was a great start to the game. He went in and did his thing. It was good for the game, good for the series, and got us fired up." Bertuzzi scowled through his postgame media availability, insisting "it's just kind of something you've got to do. You've got to stick up for your teammates and do stuff like that. The game was more important, though; it was good to get a win." Asked if it was important to get it out the way early (the fight happened at 1:36), Bertuzzi said, "It's just hockey. Those kind of things happen. You've got to do what you've got to do to try to win." Said Weber: "Obviously, he was sticking up for his teammate. I'm sure anyone in here would do the same thing if something were to happen to us." Babcock said Thursday that the Wings "aren't built" to do stuff like that, meaning their main emphasis is on punishing opponents by outscoring them. Still, for guys in the locker room, it was a welcome sight, especially capped by a win. "He took care of it, showing that we're not going to accept that," captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. "It didn't become a distraction to our team. It was handled early on, and then we moved on to play the game, and it was a hard fought game, but it was great just to see the way our team responded to it." For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com. USA TODAY is now using Facebook Comments on our stories and blog posts to provide an enhanced user experience. To post a comment, log into Facebook and then "Add" your comment. To report spam or abuse, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box. To find out more, read the FAQ and Conversation Guidelines.  This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

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