Posted on 03/10/2004 4:31:13 PM PST by SolutionsOnly
Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Vancouver Canucks center Todd Bertuzzi had a one hour disciplinary hearing on Wednesday for intentionally injuring Colorado Avalanche center Steve Moore. The incident took place on Monday during Colorado's 9-2 victory at GM Place.
Colin Campbell, the NHL's vice president and disciplinarian, is expected to issue his ruling Thursday morning.
Bertuzzi was suspended indefinitely just hours after the game by the National Hockey League. Moore remains in a Vancouver hospital bed with a broken neck, a concussion and deep cuts on his face.
Bertuzzi punched Moore in the head from behind and then jumped on his back and drove him face-first into the ice, knocking him unconscious. Moore, who scored a goal earlier in the game, laid motionless in a puddle of blood before being carted off on a stretcher. Bertuzzi received a match penalty for his actions, which comes with an automatic review by the NHL.
Bertuzzi's actions appeared to be in retaliation for a hit Moore delivered to Canucks captain and Bertuzzi's friend Markus Naslund last month. The open-ice hit by Moore sidelined Naslund with a concussion for three games. After that game, Vancouver players vowed to get even with Moore.
The teams met again last week in Colorado, but with commissioner Gary Bettman in attendance, the game was played without incident.
Prosecutors and Vancouver police are investigating Monday's attack, which marks the second time in four years law enforcement has looked into an on-ice hit at an NHL game in the city.
In February 2000, former Boston Bruin Marty McSorley was charged for hitting then-Vancouver Canuck Donald Brashear with his stick. McSorley was convicted of assault with a weapon and received an 18-month conditional discharge, avoiding a prison sentence and no criminal record after probation.
The league suspended McSorley for a year and he retired after a 17-year NHL career.
In 57 games this season, his first full season with the Avalanche, Moore has five goals and 12 points. He will not play again this season.
Bertuzzi has 17 goals and 43 assists on the season and will serve the first game of the suspension on Wednesday when Vancouver hosts Minnesota. He is reportedly distraught over the incident.
03/10 17:06:21 ET
It's more likely he's distraught over becoming he most hated man in hockey.
Without pay.
Cowardly. Criminal.
I guess you live in Pittsburgh.
The notion that law enforcement should even get involved in these incidents is a bad idea -- the Vancouver police set a terrible precedent in the McSorley case.
NOT!
If there is justice, Bertuzzi will never play hockey again.
The "A" stands for "Ass."
It does, really. "Assistant Captain."
BTW, this celebratory picture was not taken after the assault on Moore.
Absolutely - if Bettman had a hair on his ass (and he doesn't, if past decisions are any indication) he'd run Crawford for a couple of weeks and fine the entire Canuck organization. Brad May announced a "bounty" on Moore, fer goodness sakes!!!
Unfortunately, Campbell's predecessor is the Vancouver GM - Burke, and my suspicion is that we're going to end up a long ways away from justice in this case.
"Again"? That assumes what he has been doing is hockey.
Actually, for a goon and a thug, TB does have some hockey ability.
Of course, not nearly as much as his immensely talented and skilled teammate, the SWEDE, Markus Naslund (whom TB will claim he was trying to "protect," as though that justifies a gutless sucker punch).
Bertuzzi slugged Moore in the side of the head late in Monday night's 9-2 Colorado victory. He hit Moore from behind and drove his head into the ice. Moore landed face-first — with the 245-pound Bertuzzi on top of him — and lay in a pool of blood for several minutes before he was removed on a stretcher.
Don't bet on it. I agree, and in fact a lifetime ban would be okay with me. My team (CBJ) was looking at acquiring Bertuzzi last year. No thanks. The Sanderson trade is a direct result of this crime.
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