That Bertuzzi attack

[Strummerman]

one scary thing on Moore of Colorado- he could have may have killed him

[CentreHice]

Moore was out cold before Bertuzzi piled his face into the ice. Bertuzzi should be gone for the rest of the year....playoffs included.

That's assault from behind....what a coward....in fact, he should be charged with such by the authorities. If McSorley had to go to court, so should Bertuzzi.

This latest garbage with Philly-Sens, and now tonight with the Avs-Canucks....it just ruins the game. What a sickening sight to see Moore lying motionless on the ice because of such a senseless act.

[drkcloud]

What a gutless puke. 20 games at least, and I wish Granato would have smacked that smarmy Crawford too. Bertuzzi is absolutely pathetic

[CentreHice]

Gabriel Morency on Team 990's Sports Rage just said (around 1:35 a.m.) that Bertizzi's attack was justified.

Here are some quotes:

"Bertuzzi sucker-punched Steve Moore from behind, then drove his face into the ice...Moore is lucky that's all he got."

"That's why Todd Bertuzzi is such a respected player in this league. Sending a message...you don't touch our star players."

"Patrice Brisebois should have cross-checked McLaren in the throat for what he did to Zednik, instead of standing around."

"Old school hockey. Bertuzzi should get only 2 games, in fact...only 1 game. Not Bertuzzi's fault that Moore fell face first on the ice. Yeah, he sucker-punched him but after that, you're on your own."

Is this guy just saying things for reaction, or does he seriously believe his "Jim Rome on steroids" act?

[MC Habber]

I was at the game tonight. In terms of refereeing, it was one of the most one-sided hack-jobs I've ever seen. Saturday's embarassment in LA was awful but not this bad, the referees totally let the game get out of hand.

Now to the incident. From where I was sitting (Moore was skating towards me), Bertuzzi appeard to leap on Moore from behind - I didnt' really see Bertuzzi punch him at the time - and then there was a huge pile up, followed by several fights. It was several seconds before I, or the referees, noticed that Moore was still lying on the ice with a pool of blood beside his head. After 10 minutes they finally took him off the ice on a stretcher. They then had a couple of people on the ice with shovels, trying to scrape off the blood. They weren't able to get all the blood off and the remainder of the game was played with a huge red smudge where Moore's head hit the ice.

It was really a horrible incident and one of the worst I've ever seen. It occurred to me as I watched the crowd of doctors and trainers attending to Moore that Bertuzzi really could be charged with assault.

[CentreHice]

MC said:

I was at the game tonight. In terms of refereeing, it was one of the most one-sided hack-jobs I've ever seen. Saturday's embarassment in LA was awful but not this bad, the referees totally let the game get out of hand.

Now to the incident. From where I was sitting (Moore was skating towards me), Bertuzzi appeard to leap on Moore from behind - I didnt' really see Bertuzzi punch him at the time - and then there was a huge pile up, followed by several fights. It was several seconds before I, or the referees, noticed that Moore was still lying on the ice with a pool of blood beside his head. After 10 minutes they finally took him off the ice on a stretcher. They then had a couple of people on the ice with shovels, trying to scrape off the blood. They weren't able to get all the blood off and the remainder of the game was played with a huge red smudge where Moore's head hit the ice.

It was really a horrible incident and one of the worst I've ever seen. It occurred to me as I watched the crowd of doctors and trainers attending to Moore that Bertuzzi really could be charged with assault.

The replay clearly shows Bertuzzi sucker punch him on the side of the jaw. Moore goes limp--out cold--on his way down...and Bertuzzi slams him face first into the ice.

Charges? Has to be. Pre-meditated, cowardly assault. This isn't old-time hockey. It's Eddie Shore on Ace Bailey all over again.

Wonder if Tony Granato is thinking he should've kept Moore on the bench with 8 minutes left in a game well in hand....especially since Moore had been defending himself all game long.

Wonder if Crawford had sent Bertuzzi out to get him once and for all. Who knows what's said on that bench.

[foodfight]

Here's a link to a video replay of the Bertuzzi incident. The link to the video is on the page, you have to watch the whole thing, replay is near the end.



www.hockey-fights.com/

[MC Habber]

I doubt Crawford would have sent Bertuzzi out to get him - he would have used May or Cooke or someone else if he wanted to do that. I think Bertuzzi just lost it - it looked like Moore might have said something to him just before it and pushed his button. I doubt Bertuzzi thought that Moore would be leaving on a stretcher though. I don't think he thought at all.

[Strummerman]

Phew Bertuzzi was gonna hit him again as he lay unconscious in a pool of blood and his neck broke. If Bertuzzi had hit him he may be dead. The Avalanche that jumped Bertuzzi may have saved Moore"s life

[Deleted]

Strummerman said:

If Bertuzzi had hit him he may be dead. The Avalanche that jumped Bertuzzi may have saved Moore"s life

That may be exaggering.

[Strummerman]

Mattias said:

That may be exaggering.

The guy had a broken neck, one more punch to the head and he may have broken his spinal cord, brain hemmoraging etc, Moore may be thru as a player

[franko]

Strummerman said:

The Avalanche that jumped Bertuzzi may have saved Moore"s life

The Avalanche that jumped Bertuzzi may have broken Moore's neck as well! Moore was unconscious from the punch, it seems, but the dog-pile afterward had to have done damage as well.

To Mr. Moore: get well. To Mr. Berruzzi: you have apologized. You appear contrite. Now accept your discipline without a whine. To the rest of the league: smarten up already!

[Strummerman]

franko said:

The Avalanche that jumped Bertuzzi may have broken Moore's neck as well! Moore was unconscious from the punch, it seems, but the dog-pile afterward had to have done damage as well.

To Mr. Moore: get well. To Mr. Berruzzi: you have apologized. You appear contrite. Now accept your discipline without a whine. To the rest of the league: smarten up already!

I HAVE MY DOUBTS AS TO YOUR SCENARIO LOOK AT THE TAPE ITS WHEN BERTUZZI PILEDRIVES HIM TO THE ICE FACE FIRST THE AWKWARD ANGLE HE FALLS I THINK THAT IS WHERE THE NECK BREAKS- I WONDER IF SOMEONE COMMITS MURDER AND THEN IS CONTRITE ABOUT IT SHOULD WE FORGIVE AND FORGET- WOULD YOU WANT SOMEONE AT WORK OR SCHOOL WHO IS UPSET WITH YOU FOR WHATEVER REASON TO COME UP BEHIND AND SUCKERPUNCH YOU? iM A BIG GUY SO I THINK I CAN HANDLE MYSELF BUT I COULDNT DEFEND FROM A SUCKERPUNCH EVEN FROM A SKINNY GUY

[habmeister]

Give me a break everybody. Moore knocked out the canucks star player and got knocked out in return. The only two bad things were that bertuzzi didn't do it to his face and that he had bad luck in that his neck broke.

Gary Roberts has fused vertebrae, it happens. It takes a lot more than that to sever a spinal cord. If moore would have turned around and fought bertuzzi then he wouldn't be where he is. If bertuzzi would have turned him around and smoked him then he probably wouldn't have broken his neck.

bertuzzi kept his glove on, if he really wanted to hurt the guy bad he would have dropped his glove first. If somebody would have done to mclaren similar to what bertuzzi did, without the broken neck, i would have said he deserved it also.


The only unforunate part was that his neck broke and that bertuzzi did it in a cowardly way.

Thats my two cents.

[BadCompany]

Strummerman said:

The Avalanche that jumped Bertuzzi may have saved Moore"s life

Andrei Nikolishin. One of those "whussy" Europeans.

Don't know whether or not he "saved Moore's life" but full marks for courage, for leaping in right away and swinging at a much, much bigger man.

[Skilly]

OK ...right off the bat. Steve Moore's neck did not break! He fractured two vertebrae. If you ever had a fractured bone, there is a big difference ..... and the recovery time is also different.

This has happened before and they continue to play in the NHL (off the top of my head Gary Roberts and Brian Savage spring to mind). The thing that ticks me off about the suspension is the uncertainty of it. We may suspend you next year but we aren't sure. What the hell is that. When a sentence "in a court of law" is handed down they aren't even allowed to do that. I can see it now:

"Well Mr. Smith due to the severity of the victim's injurioes we sentence you to 2 years in prison, but after that is up we reserve the right to punish you more" They would never get away with it in a million years!

Now back to the suspensions. Steve Moore will play again. Brashear played again. Heck even Jason Marshall played agian after Nolan mugged him. And Modano played again after Salei's attack. However,
Jeff Beukeboom had to retire and he had more years left in him after Johnson's sucker punch. And Johnson only got 12 games. This premeditation arguement holds no water because nobody knows if it was premeditated or not, we are only guessing. How do we know that Johnson didn't intend to break Beukeboom's neck. We don't.

If some people are so intent to compare this to society, well in society our punishments are based on precedent. The precedent was there for us all to see 12-23 games as the two worse cases in NHL history. (McSorley's was upgraded to a year after he was put on probation by the courts .... the NHL had no choice but to lengthen it .... but originally it was 23 games).

Someone used the DUI example. Well if two people drink and drive they are entitled to be treated equally under the law. If one guy gets 5 years for running a person over and they die, the other person shouldn't get 15 because the person he killed happened to die more severely. They both get the same, if they both have the same previous records. However, in law you also have the ability to plea bargain. A vehicular homicide charge could actually be plea bargained down to involuntary manslaughter. The difference is huge when it comes to sentencing ...... so why throw the book at this guy when the precedent is there and the merits could be argued to some acceptable sentence for both parties. Bertuzzi hasn't even been given a sentence, he has to wait for it until next year.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

It is an unfortunate incident.
The fracture was accidental.
The punch was deliberate, but it was with a padded gloved hand, not a barenuckel or stick with an attempt to injure.
Landing on the back of the neck caused the injury, not the punch from behind.
Bertuzzi is responsible for his actions and the consequences. Considering that this occurred during a game of hockey where violence is normal, I do not consider it a criminal act.
A foolish act, an unfortunate unintended consequence, poor judgement.
Bertuzzi and in fact all of hockey has learned from this. Justice must include rehabilitation as well as punishment. No one will be served by criminalizing rough play in a game.

[habwest]

Precedent. Well maybe we can set a 'new' precedent since the 'old' precedent obviously is not working.

Working on the 'old precedent' principle:

A hit to the head with a hockey stick leading to a severe concussion = 23 games + 1 year if convicted by the courts.

Mugging a guy and leaving him with a severe concussion, face lacerations and cracked vertebrae = 12 games + playoffs + ? if convicted by the courts.

Mugging a guy and leaving him with a "true" borken neck and a quadraplegic = what, 40 games?

Mugging a guy or hitting him with a stick and killing him = what, 60 games?

This of course looks absurd but then that's the point. The NHL's discipline to date has been absurd, even on McSorley. So relying on a flawed precedent is really no basis for an argument.

If the NHL were really serious about protecting its players and eliminating the brutal violence that goes beyond the line it would ban Bertuzzi for life and fine Vancouver, ohh, say, $5M.

That would get the message across.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

BadCompany said:

Andrei Nikolishin. One of those "whussy" Europeans.

Don't know whether or not he "saved Moore's life" but full marks for courage, for leaping in right away and swinging at a much, much bigger man.

Did he get a third man in penalty?

[Strummerman]

habaroni said:

Give me a break everybody. Moore knocked out the canucks star player and got knocked out in return. The only two bad things were that bertuzzi didn't do it to his face and that he had bad luck in that his neck broke.

Gary Roberts has fused vertebrae, it happens. It takes a lot more than that to sever a spinal cord. If moore would have turned around and fought bertuzzi then he wouldn't be where he is. If bertuzzi would have turned him around and smoked him then he probably wouldn't have broken his neck.

bertuzzi kept his glove on, if he really wanted to hurt the guy bad he would have dropped his glove first. If somebody would have done to mclaren similar to what bertuzzi did, without the broken neck, i would have said he deserved it also.


The only unforunate part was that his neck broke and that bertuzzi did it in a cowardly way.

Thats my two cents.

And may I add thats what its worth 2 cents. What nonsense Moore knocked out the star player. It was part of ythe game in the heat of the action not premeditated and a solid check with the shoulder. What I accuse Bertuzzi is more of plain stupidity, attacking someone from behind- what an ahole.

[Strummerman]

Skilly said:

OK ...right off the bat. Steve Moore's neck did not break! He fractured two vertebrae. If you ever had a fractured bone, there is a big difference ..... and the recovery time is also different.

This has happened before and they continue to play in the NHL (off the top of my head Gary Roberts and Brian Savage spring to mind). The thing that ticks me off about the suspension is the uncertainty of it. We may suspend you next year but we aren't sure. What the hell is that. When a sentence "in a court of law" is handed down they aren't even allowed to do that. I can see it now:

"Well Mr. Smith due to the severity of the victim's injurioes we sentence you to 2 years in prison, but after that is up we reserve the right to punish you more" They would never get away with it in a million years!

Now back to the suspensions. Steve Moore will play again. Brashear played again. Heck even Jason Marshall played agian after Nolan mugged him. And Modano played again after Salei's attack. However,
Jeff Beukeboom had to retire and he had more years left in him after Johnson's sucker punch. And Johnson only got 12 games. This premeditation arguement holds no water because nobody knows if it was premeditated or not, we are only guessing. How do we know that Johnson didn't intend to break Beukeboom's neck. We don't.

If some people are so intent to compare this to society, well in society our punishments are based on precedent. The precedent was there for us all to see 12-23 games as the two worse cases in NHL history. (McSorley's was upgraded to a year after he was put on probation by the courts .... the NHL had no choice but to lengthen it .... but originally it was 23 games).

Someone used the DUI example. Well if two people drink and drive they are entitled to be treated equally under the law. If one guy gets 5 years for running a person over and they die, the other person shouldn't get 15 because the person he killed happened to die more severely. They both get the same, if they both have the same previous records. However, in law you also have the ability to plea bargain. A vehicular homicide charge could actually be plea bargained down to involuntary manslaughter. The difference is huge when it comes to sentencing ...... so why throw the book at this guy when the precedent is there and the merits could be argued to some acceptable sentence for both parties. Bertuzzi hasn't even been given a sentence, he has to wait for it until next year.

brian Savage was in critical condition for a long time. He recovered. I dont rememebr if Gary Roberts was due to a hit or something else. You can guarantee Steve Moore can play again, no one has said that except you. Johnson got 12 games before they knew Beukeboom couldnt play anymore and according to the radio Beukeboom is still groggy. Frankly the Brashear hit I thought was less premeditation by Mcsorley but an immature reaction to losing a fight.

Frankly this was a premeditated attack and an act of pure stupidity. The fact Moore had won a fight earlier in the game may have led Bertuzzi to play bully at the end. Obviously I doubt Bertuzzi was planning on breaking his neck, but like a player who lifts his stick uncaring as to whether he pokes someones eye out, Bertuzzi's act reeked of pure negligence

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

It reeked allright.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

Mr. said:

It reeked allright.

200 innocent people killed in Spain.
American GI's ambushed in Iraq.
Ten shot in Haiti.
Palistanians and Jews slaughtered in Israel on alternate days.
Please pardon me if I don't think a punch from behind with a gloved hand during a hockey game with nobody killed, isn't a severe criminal action.
Stupid, yes, poor judgement, yes, criminal, no.

[Strummerman]

Habs_fan_in_LA said:

200 innocent people killed in Spain.
American GI's ambushed in Iraq.
Ten shot in Haiti.
Palistanians and Jews slaughtered in Israel on alternate days.
Please pardon me if I don't think a punch from behind with a gloved hand during a hockey game with nobody killed, isn't a severe criminal action.
Stupid, yes, poor judgement, yes, criminal, no.

yes and they still played soccer in Spain even after all those deaths- let us not divert attention from the incident into discussing the realities of human existence, there are wars famine and death etc all the time- I guess when Team canada won in 1972 there was a war raging in Vietnam so therefore lets not discuss hockey

[seventeen]

I believe Bertuzzi got a just punishment. Harsh, yes. Where I place blame is on the NHL head office and officiating itself. The incident that began this whole mess, had its own 'brutality' to it. Moore clearly played the puck then threw himself at Naslund. The fact he only hit him with the elbow rather than his shoulder pad was due to Naslund's quick reaction. I didn't see it as 'finishing his check'. Moore played the puck. Usually when that happens, the player doesn't then launch himself at the opponent. When the NHL failed to do anything about that incident, it set the stage for the Canucks taking matters into their own hands. Bertuzzi's not that kind of player and I suspect he wanted to goad Moore into a fight. It appeared he knocked him out cold with that punch and the rest was due to the fall. In fact it appeared Bertuzzi eased up just a little. Nickolishin, in fact looked like he threw a punch that missed Bertuzzi and might have hit Moore, though I didn't get a good enough look as the clip seems to stop at that point from that angle. A very unfortunate incident. But I can't feel totally sorry for Steve Moore, either.

[Strummerman]

seventeen said:

I believe Bertuzzi got a just punishment. Harsh, yes. Where I place blame is on the NHL head office and officiating itself. The incident that began this whole mess, had its own 'brutality' to it. Moore clearly played the puck then threw himself at Naslund. The fact he only hit him with the elbow rather than his shoulder pad was due to Naslund's quick reaction. I didn't see it as 'finishing his check'. Moore played the puck. Usually when that happens, the player doesn't then launch himself at the opponent. When the NHL failed to do anything about that incident, it set the stage for the Canucks taking matters into their own hands. Bertuzzi's not that kind of player and I suspect he wanted to goad Moore into a fight. It appeared he knocked him out cold with that punch and the rest was due to the fall. In fact it appeared Bertuzzi eased up just a little. Nickolishin, in fact looked like he threw a punch that missed Bertuzzi and might have hit Moore, though I didn't get a good enough look as the clip seems to stop at that point from that angle. A very unfortunate incident. But I can't feel totally sorry for Steve Moore, either.

Who I really blame is Crawford who did not dissuade his team from getting revenge. This eye for eye mentality is wrong for the league and is espoused by the likes of hockey spokespeople like Pierre Maguire Don Cherry etc. That is why there is always room for a thug on the 4th line and the talented smallish players are in the AHL. The last sucker punch I remember that brought such attention was Steve Durbano on Bobby Hull in the WHA. And Durbano was a head case.

[Skilly]

I have said this before and now I will say it again.

Bertuzzi should be suspended. How long? I will leave that up for debate. But IF the NHL is serious about cleaning up the sport, THEN the result of the act should not matter.

If Sundin cross-checks someone from behind into the boards, and he suffers a concussion then he should get the same suspension (1 year?) as the poor bloke who cross checks someone from behind into the boards and breaks their neck. Both incidents had the same potential. Because the NHL punishes the result is the reason it will never be cleaned up ..... every 5-10 years or so this comes up and it happens about 100 times a year .... but goes unnoticed because the players involved do not get "hurt".

It is a joke.

[Strummerman]

Skilly said:

I have said this before and now I will say it again.

Bertuzzi should be suspended. How long? I will leave that up for debate. But IF the NHL is serious about cleaning up the sport, THEN the result of the act should not matter.

If Sundin cross-checks someone from behind into the boards, and he suffers a concussion then he should get the same suspension (1 year?) as the poor bloke who cross checks someone from behind into the boards and breaks their neck. Both incidents had the same potential. Because the NHL punishes the result is the reason it will never be cleaned up ..... every 5-10 years or so this comes up and it happens about 100 times a year .... but goes unnoticed because the players involved do not get "hurt".

It is a joke.

I agree. I have been watching hockey since the sixties and only recently in the last few years every game an act makes me wince at the sheer brutality. Im sure that is what turns off viewers in the States. I think reckless behaviour should not be rewarded. Dont understand that Sundin comment thougyh. I mean bertuzzi is an elite player as well and he was suspended.

[Skilly]

Strummerman said:

I agree. I have been watching hockey since the sixties and only recently in the last few years every game an act makes me wince at the sheer brutality. Im sure that is what turns off viewers in the States. I think reckless behaviour should not be rewarded. Dont understand that Sundin comment thougyh. I mean bertuzzi is an elite player as well and he was suspended.

I choose Sundin giving someone a concussion as compared to someone else breaking someone's neck. I chose the prima donna elite player as considered by 90% of Canadian media. But you'll never see Sundin suspended for more than 5 games for any of his indescretions.

[Skilly]

Strummerman said:

You can guarantee Steve Moore can play again, no one has said that except you. Johnson got 12 games before they knew Beukeboom couldnt play anymore and according to the radio Beukeboom is still groggy.

FROM TSN:

It's hard to enjoy the wins when teammate Steve Moore recovers after a blindside hit by Todd Bertuzzi broke his neck last week. Moore, who was moved to an undisclosed Colorado hospital on Saturday, is expected to recover but his injury has been hard for the Avalanche to shake.