The Todd Bertuzzi–Steve Moore incident (also called the Bertuzzi–Moore incident) happened during a National Hockey League (NHL) game between the Vancouver Canucks and the Colorado Avalanche at Vancouver's Rogers Arena (then-called General Motors Place) on March 8, 2004.
In the first period, Steve Moore of the Avalanche fought Matt Cooke of the Canucks and served a 5-minute major penalty for fighting. The Avalanche would go on to build up a large lead in a fight-filled game. Late in the third period, Todd Bertuzzi was sent onto the ice for Vancouver. After failing to instigate Moore to fight, Bertuzzi skated after Moore, grabbed his jersey and punched him in the right side of the head, knocking him unconscious. Bertuzzi landed on top of him, driving Moore's face first into the ice, and Moore's teammate Andrei Nikolishin and Bertuzzi's teammate Sean Pronger piled onto them. Moore was knocked out and laid motionless for ten minutes before being carried off on a stretcher. The combination of the hit, fall, and piling-on had resulted in three fractured neck vertebrae, facial cuts and a concussion. The incident ended Moore's professional hockey career, and resulted in criminal assault charges against Bertuzzi, and a civil lawsuit against Bertuzzi and the Canucks.
On August 19, 2014, it was reported the lawsuit ended with all parties agreeing to a confidential settlement.
Game summary
Scoring summaryPeriodTeamGoalAssist(s)TimeScore1st COL Milan Hejduk (33) Joe Sakic (46) 06:54 1–0 COL COL Steve Konowalchuk (16) Dan Hinote (5) and Riku Hahl (1) 14:40 2–0 COL COL Joe Sakic (30) Unassisted 15:09 3–0 COL COL Darby Hendrickson (2) Derek Morris (22) 15:31 4–0 COL COL Steve Moore (2) Peter Worrell (1) 16:19 5–0 COL2nd VAN Brad May (4) Matt Cooke (6) and Trevor Linden (18) 07:24 5–1 COL VAN Brad May (5) Brent Sopel (29) and Trevor Linden (19) 08:16 5–2 COL COL Derek Morris (6) – pp Joe Sakic (47) and Paul Kariya (17) 12:16 6–2 COL3rd COL Paul Kariya (9) – sh Unassisted 01:09 7–2 COL COL Milan Hejduk (34) – pp Joe Sakic (48) and Karlis Skrastins (7) 03:16 8–2 COL COL Milan Hejduk (35) – pp Alex Tanguay (53) and John-Michael Liles (20) 11:59 9–2 COL Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st COL Peter Worrell Fighting – major 06:33 5:00 VAN Brad May Fighting – major 06:33 5:00 COL Steve Moore Fighting – major 06:36 5:00 VAN Matt Cooke Fighting – major 06:36 5:00 VAN Todd Bertuzzi Interference 10:08 2:00 COL Rob Blake Fighting – major 17:42 5:00 VAN Jarkko Ruutu Fighting – major 17:42 5:00 COL Peter Worrell Fighting – major 18:03 5:00 VAN Brad May Fighting – major 18:03 5:00 VAN Tyler Bouck High-sticking 18:45 2:00 VAN Johan Hedberg Delay of game 19:33 2:00 2nd VAN Brady May Misconduct 08:16 10:00 VAN Jarkko Ruutu Interference 08:43 2:00 VAN Matt Cooke Goaltender interference 10:51 2:00 VAN Johan Hedberg Delay of game 11:07 2:00 COL Steve Konowalchuk Interference 12:33 2:00 COL Bench (served by Teemu Selanne) Too many men on the ice 18:39 2:00 3rd COL Andrei Nikolishin Tripping 00:36 2:00 VAN Brad May Roughing 02:20 2:00 VAN Wade Brookbank Roughing 05:19 5:00 COL Kurt Sauer Fighting – major 08:41 5:00 COL Kurt Sauer Game misconduct 08:41 10:00 VAN Brad May Fighting – major 08:41 5:00 VAN Brad May Double game misconduct 08:41 20:00 VAN Todd Bertuzzi Attempt to injure 08:41 10:00 VAN Johan Hedberg Leaving the crease 08:41 2:00 VAN Wade Brookbank Holding 11:20 2:00 VAN Wade Brookbank Roughing 11:20 2:00 COL Peter Worrell Spearing – double minor 17:24 4:00 COL Peter Worrell Unsportsmanlike conduct 17:24 2:00 COL Peter Worrell Misconduct 17:24 10:00 VAN Wade Brookbank Roughing 17:24 2:00 VAN Wade Brookbank Misconduct 17:24 10:00
Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 14 12 9 35 4 9 5 18 Power play opportunities Team Goals/Opportunities Colorado 3/12 Vancouver 0/5 Three star selectionsTeamPlayerStatistics 1st COL Milan Hejduk 3 goals 2nd COL Joe Sakic 1 goal, 3 assists 3rd VAN Brad May 2 goals
Background and prelude
On February 16, 2004, during a game between Vancouver and Colorado, Avalanche center Steve Moore injured Canucks team captain Markus Näslund by hitting him hard in the head while Näslund was reaching for the puck ahead of him. Näslund, the league's leading scorer at the time, suffered a minor concussion and a bone chip in his elbow, knocking him out of the lineup for three games. Referee Dan Marouelli did not call a penalty, ruling the hit legal, a judgment shared by the league upon further review after the game.
Canucks head coach Marc Crawford publicly criticized the no-infraction call, claiming that Marouelli and his partner, Rob Martell, needed to show "respect" for the league's leading scorer. Vancouver president and general manager Brian Burke, the league's former chief disciplinarian, described the play as "a marginal player going after a superstar with a headhunting hit". Several Canucks players were also vocal against Moore in the media. In particular, forward Brad May issued a "bounty" on Moore, while Bertuzzi called him a "piece of s**t." Näslund missed three games as a result of the hit and returned in time for the next game between the Canucks and Avalanche on March 3. With NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in attendance, the contest was played to a 5–5 tie without incident.
The incident In a rematch five days later, the Canucks were more active in physically pursuing Moore. In one of four fights in the first period, Canucks forward Matt Cooke fought Moore six minutes into the game. At the first intermission, with the score already 5–0 for Colorado, NHL executive vice-president Colin Campbell and director of officiating Andy Van Hellemond placed a phone call to the two referees overseeing the game to discuss the potential for an escalation in physicality. With Colorado leading 8–2 midway through the third period, Bertuzzi began following Moore around the ice, attempting to provoke him into another fight. With Moore ignoring him, Bertuzzi grabbed Moore's jersey from behind and punched him in the back of the jaw, rendering Moore immediately unconscious. Moore's head hit the ice with Bertuzzi falling on top of his body. Several other players from both teams jumped atop Moore after he fell to the ice. A line brawl erupted, involving all remaining skaters except for the goaltenders on the ice. Canucks fans initially cheered at Bertuzzi's actions believing that Moore had it coming for what happened two games before, but as the fighting died down and it became apparent that Moore was seriously injured, the arena became silent.
After lying on the ice for approximately 10 minutes, Moore was removed from the playing surface on a stretcher. With eight minutes remaining in the third period and the outcome effectively decided, Avalanche general manager Pierre Lacroix reportedly asked referees to end the game. The contest was nonetheless played out with the Avalanche winning 9–2. Moore was taken to Vancouver General Hospital and later transferred to a Denver hospital, where he was treated for three fractured vertebrae in his neck, a grade-three concussion, vertebral ligament damage, stretching of the brachial plexus nerves, and facial lacerations. He was also suffering from amnesia.
Two days after the incident, Bertuzzi scheduled a press conference in which he wept and apologized to Moore and his family, as well as to Burke, Canucks owner John McCaw, Jr., the Canucks organization, his teammates, and the fans. He added, "For the kids that watch this game, I'm truly sorry. I don't play the game that way. And I'm not a mean-spirited person."
Reactions and disciplinary actions
NHL Bertuzzi was assessed a match penalty and ejected from the game. Per league rules, he was also suspended indefinitely pending a ruling from Bettman. On the morning of his apology, he attended a disciplinary hearing with NHL officials in Toronto, along with his agent, Pat Morris, and Brian Burke. The following day, on March 11, 2004, the league ruled he would remain suspended for at least the remainder of the Canucks' season, which ultimately cost him the final 13 games of the regular season plus seven playoff games. The Canucks were additionally fined $250,000. While the following NHL season was suspended due to the 2004–05 lockout, many players went overseas to play in Europe. Upon learning that Bertuzzi was intending to do the same, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) extended his NHL suspension to cover their jurisdiction. He did, however, participate with other NHL players in a December 2004 charity game, held in Vancouver. The game was organized by Brad May in partnership with the Vancouver Giants, a junior club in the Western Hockey League (WHL), and raised funds for Canuck Place, a Vancouver children's hospice sponsored by the Canucks. Bertuzzi received a standing ovation from the sellout crowd.
Though the NHL lockout had not yet been resolved between the league and the players, Bettman scheduled a reinstatement hearing for Bertuzzi on April 26, 2005. The hearing was attended separately by Bertuzzi and Moore. After the lockout officially ended and the NHL was set to resume play for the 2005–06 season, Bettman announced Bertuzzi's reinstatement on August 8, citing that "Mr. Bertuzzi ha[d] paid a very significant price for his conduct," adding that he felt Bertuzzi was "genuinely remorseful and apologetic." Bertuzzi's 17-month suspension caused him to miss a total of 20 games—the fourth-longest suspension in NHL history at the time. The suspension accounted for $501,926.39 in forfeited salary, as well as an approximate $350,000 in lost endorsements. Bettman also cited "uncertainty, anxiety, stress and emotional pain for the Bertuzzi family" resulting from the suspension as a reason for his reinstatement.
IIHF Releasing a statement on December 17, 2004, the IIHF described Bertuzzi's actions as "an extremely serious violation of the rules" which put "the sport into disrepute." The decision was based on an IIHF statute which allows it to ban any player from playing internationally if he has been deemed "detrimental to the best interest" of hockey. Suspended by both the NHL and IIHF, Bertuzzi remained professionally inactive during the 2004–05 season. The IIHF's sanction also kept him from representing Canada in the 2004 and 2005 World Championships, as well as the 2004 World Cup.
On the day of his reinstatement, Team Canada's executive director, Wayne Gretzky, offered Bertuzzi a spot on the national team's summer orientation camp in preparation for the 2006 Winter Olympics. A week later, Bertuzzi broke his 17-month-long public silence by again admitting to his mistake and expressing a desire to move on with his life. He stated, "I'm sure just like Steve Moore and his family, it's been difficult for both parties. I know I wish that day never happened. It's been some tough times, but I've got good family and good friends and good peers in the league that have helped me get over the hump and move forward and come through it."
Legal action and lawsuits Original 2005 – 2008 lawsuit