Bertuzzi's Back

[Hordispack]

Vancouver Canucks forward Todd Bertuzzi, whose blindside punch left Colorado's Steve Moore with a broken neck, was reinstated by the NHL on Monday.

Bertuzzi was suspended for the final 13 regular-season games of the 2003-04 season and the Stanley Cup playoffs. His banishment continued throughout last season's NHL lockout, which kept Bertuzzi from playing in the World Cup of Hockey last September and the past two world championships.
He also was barred from playing in any European league last season.

Bertuzzi and Moore met with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman for Bertuzzi's reinstatement hearing on April 26. The Vancouver right wing needed the commissioner's approval before being allowed back into the league.

"I find that the appropriate discipline to be imposed for Mr. Bertuzzi's conduct on March 8, 2004 is the suspension that has been served to date," Bettman said in a statement.

The suspension cost Bertuzzi $501,926.39 in salary. He is due to earn $5,269,333 from the Canucks in the upcoming season.

Moore might never play again because of Bertuzzi's vicious blow in Vancouver on March 8, 2004. The NHL waited over a year to hold Bertuzzi's hearing because of the lockout. Bettman waited nearly four more months to announce his decision to let him onto the ice.

Bertuzzi was suspended indefinitely following the hit. Moore was left with a broken neck, a concussion and no guarantee that he'd still be a professional hockey player.

With the Avalanche ahead 8-2 in the game, Bertuzzi grabbed Moore from behind, punched him on the side of his head and then landed on top of Moore, driving his head into the ice. The bloodied Colorado player was removed on a stretcher.

The attack was seen as retaliation for a hit Moore put on Vancouver star Markus Naslund that left the Canucks captain with a concussion and sidelined him for three games.

"Mr. Bertuzzi's actions were deserving of an appropriately harsh sanction," Bettman said. "There is no question that Mr. Bertuzzi's actions clearly went well beyond what could ever be considered acceptable behavior in the National Hockey League. Mr. Bertuzzi must be held responsible for the results of his actions, and the message must be delivered loudly and forcefully that the game will not tolerate this type of conduct."

Bertuzzi first asked for his reinstatement hearing last December, around the time he pleaded guilty in a Vancouver court to criminal assault and was given a conditional discharge. He faced up to 18 months in prison.

Moore is an unrestricted free agent after not being re-signed by the Avalanche

 

[Hordispack]

Wasn't the deal supposed to be Bertuzzi couldn't comeback til Moore could come back? I think at minimum he should sit out during the real season. The "not playing in Europe" is BS a lot of the older players did not go to Europe.
Also, I used to be a huge Brad May fan. I blame him almost as much as Bertuzzi for the injury to this kid.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Supposedly, Moore is soon to be cleared to participate in hockey-related activities, but Bertuzzi definately deserved a stronger punishment. 13 NHL games + playoffs for sucker punching a guy in the back of the head and seriously threatening his life? Weak.

 

[Phill11]

Wasn't the deal supposed to be Bertuzzi couldn't comeback til Moore could come back? I think at minimum he should sit out during the real season. The "not playing in Europe" is BS a lot of the older players did not go to Europe.
Also, I used to be a huge Brad May fan. I blame him almost as much as Bertuzzi for the injury to this kid.

Sorry, not much of an NHL fan, but what did May have to do with that?

I used to be an occasional hockey watcher (pre-lockout) and liked watching May play. So I'm a bit curious.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Sorry, not much of an NHL fan, but what did May have to do with that?

I used to be an occasional hockey watcher (pre-lockout) and liked watching May play. So I'm a bit curious.

May made some idiotic comments to the media saying something to the extent that Moore will have a "bounty" put on his head the next time the Canucks play the Avs. And of course, the next time they played they followed through on that, as Bertuzzi broke Moore's neck.

 

[chickenhead]

The situation was ugly all around. You also had Avs coach Tony Granato pushing for the most serious of suspensions--the same Tony Granato who served 15 games for tomahawking a player's head with his stick in retaliation for an earlier hit.

 

[Murf]

The situation was ugly all around.

I agree, but I also think that once Moore is medically cleared to play, enough has been done. Bertuzzi got lucky by having the lockout fall when it did, but you can't blame him for it.

I'm sure the NHL has no interest in this story anymore. They would probably just rather get it off the front pages and try to focus on the future.

Moore will get his day in court (I think there is a civil suit going, someone confirm?).

 

[Hordispack]

Ruling is stinging to Moore

Rick Sadowski, Rocky Mountain News
August 10, 2005

Ex-Avalanche player 'disappointed' while trying to get healthy
While Steve Moore remains hopeful of resuming his career in the NHL, he should have a better idea by the end of the month if his optimism is warranted.

That's when the former Colorado Avalanche forward is expected to receive a prognosis from doctors at the Cleveland Clinic, where he underwent a series of tests in June and was re-examined Monday.

"It was a very comprehensive, multidisciplinary medical evaluation by a whole team of experts," Tim Danson, Moore's Toronto-based attorney, said Tuesday.



Danson said he "assumed" NHL commissioner Gary Bettman would have waited for the clinic's conclusions before deciding whether to reinstate Vancouver Canucks forward Todd Bertuzzi, whose indefinite suspension for attacking Moore in a March 8, 2004, game was lifted Monday.

"Obviously, Steve's condition was well down the totem pole," Danson said.

Bertuzzi was playing golf when he received word of Bettman's decision; Moore was being tested at the clinic.

"(Moore) was disappointed," Danson said of his client, who has returned to the Toronto area. "He thought it deserved more weight that he's unable to resume his NHL career and may never resume his NHL career."

Bettman said in a 4,500-word ruling Bertuzzi had been punished appropriately but "is on notice that he will be held strictly accountable to a higher standard" than other players for his on-ice conduct.

Bertuzzi missed the Canucks' final 13 regular-season games in the 2003-04 season and all seven of their playoff games and lost $501,926.39 in salary.

He already has accepted an invitation to Canada's Olympics orientation camp next week and will earn $5.2 million with the Canucks in the upcoming season.

"No matter which way you cut it, Todd Bertuzzi got a 20-game suspension for the most vicious, criminal assault in NHL history," Danson said.

Bettman said he took into account Moore's injuries - broken neck vertebrae, facial cuts and a concussion - along with Bertuzzi's loss of income, damaged reputation, expressions of remorse and guilty plea to assault in a British Columbia court and the fact Moore has filed a civil suit against Bertuzzi and others.

Danson said Moore was "shocked" when the Avalanche signed former Canucks forward Brad May last weekend. May is a defendant in Moore's lawsuit for allegedly saying a "bounty" was on Moore's head because of his unpenalized hit against Canucks captain Markus Naslund that preceded Bertuzzi's attack.

Danson said Moore has "tried to exercise and put on skates," but he labeled "completely false" a recent Toronto Sun story that said Moore was close to being cleared to play.

"The doctors could say, 'You're fine, Steve, but if you take one more hit, you could be a quadriplegic,' " Danson said. "That's the nature of head injuries. He's got to be able to check and to be checked."

Danson also disagreed with Bettman's including the lost 2004-05 season in the suspension, which prevented Bertuzzi from playing in Europe during the lockout.

"Steve Moore didn't have an opportunity to play in Europe, either," he said. "I think this was a missed opportunity to raise the bar and really send the message out there that needed to be sent."

SKRASTINS SIGNS: Restricted free-agent defenseman Karlis Skrastins has accepted his qualifying offer of a one-year, $1,425,000 deal, giving the Avalanche 17 players under contract.

Skrastins, 31, registered five goals, eight assists and 26 penalty minutes in 2003-04 while playing in all 82 games for the fourth season in a row. He has played in 351 consecutive games, the longest streak among active NHL players.