A cloudier future for Bertuzzi.(NHL)

Now that criminal charges once again have entered the world of hockey, the sports-related question becomes: What will the filing of charges mean to Todd Bertuzzi's career?

Bertuzzi, a Canucks right winger, was charged in Vancouver last week with assault causing bodily harm for a March 8 attack on Avalanche center Steve Moore. This charge might have no impact on Bertuzzi's career. Commissioner Gary Bettman doesn't have to let the charges sway him in his decision on Bertuzzi's reinstatement. The league's statement said it wished the Crown (Canada's equivalent of a district attorney's office) hadn't taken this action. If Bettman truly thinks the criminal court should not be involved, how can he take its actions into account?

Bertuzzi is in his prime and is a game-changing player. Any charges or court action won't suddenly make teams not want him.

Even if Bertuzzi is convicted, his career won't be affected unless he gets prison time--and that doesn't mean a sentence similar to the one day Dino Ciccarelli spent behind bars after twice hitting Luke Richardson over the head with his stick in 1988. It would take a long sentence to disrupt Bertuzzi's career, especially because he will have a little extra time to get through a trial and possible sentencing thanks to the approaching labor dispute.

But prison time? Come on. Could a professional athlete, being tried in a community that hails him as a hero, actually be sentenced to prison time?

FOX Sports Net's legal analyst, Rob Becker, says yes.

"The main reasons are the degree of harm and the premeditation," Becker says. "And the fact that bodily harm was predictable."