Moore's neck fractured in Vancouver attack - NHL Game

[RamboLiberal]

Wouldn't normally post a hockey story here - but seems there are times sports is out of control. Interested in DU'ers comments.

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~76~2006318,00.html

Colorado Avalanche winger Steve Moore suffered a neck fracture and concussion as a result of an attack on him by Vancouver Canucks forward Todd Bertuzzi during a game Monday night at Vancouver.

Moore will remain in the hospital indefinitely and will be off the ice at least for the rest of the season.

Meanwhile, Canadian authorities have launched a criminal probe into the matter. The Canadian Press wire service quoted British Columbia Solicitor General Rich Coleman as saying that Vancouver police were investigating Bertuzzi's hit on Moore.

The NHL announced Bertuzzi has been suspended indefinitely, without pay, after being assessed a match penalty for delivering a deliberate injury to Moore.

[VolcanoJen]

1. Todd Bertuzzi should be suspended for.... say....

... longer than forever.

Still disgusted, and as much as I love hockey, it's difficult on days like this,
Jennifer

P.S. As my dear friend ZenLefty would say, "Keep yer stick on the ice." All my best wishes to Steven Moore for a speedy recovery!!!

[kanrok]

2. Bertuzzi should be prosecuted

n/t

[slackmaster]

3. Am I the only one who thought it would be about Michael Moore?

:evilgrin:

[FatSlob]

13. I did too.

[DenverDem]

4. Moore's previous hit for which this was retaliation

did not seem out of the bounds of the rules to me.

I'm not a big hockey fan, however, so I'm not clear about what is acceptable.

This attack was blatantly assault and seems like it should be dealt with legally.

[slackmaster]

5. Blood on the ice is acceptable in a hockey game

I've seen it in person several times.

[ZenLefty]

8. How it gets there is important

There are legal hits and illegal hits. Usually when blood is on the ice it is from an accident or a legal hit. This was far from a legal hit; it was a disgrace. It was a hit from behind and resulted in a serious injury. I assure you, a hit like this is far from acceptable in hockey.

[otohara]

6. Bad Enough - But Then a Bunch of Guys Piled On Top of Moore

it looked like a rugby game vs hockey - Bertuzzi needs to be suspended over this -

[iverglas]

7. never watch the stuff myself

And I always assume that anybody playing hockey for a US team is Canadian anyhow, so that makes my response non-partisan. ;)

http://www.cbc.ca/pcgi-bin/templates/sportsView.cgi?/news/2004/03/09/Sports/avs-canucks0308

Bad blood between the Canucks and Avalanche had been simmering since Moore's hit on Canucks captain Markus Naslund during a Feb. 16 game in Vancouver.

Replays appeared to show Moore swerving to hit Naslund on the side of the head with his elbow and shoulder.

The hit left Naslund bloodied and dazed. He needed 13 stitches to close cuts on his forehead and nose and missed three games with a concussion.

At the time, the Canucks were incensed by the hit, calling it a cheap shot at one of the game's best players.

Charges are laid against athletes up here for such incidents:

It's not the first time Vancouver police have been involved in an on-ice incident: they also investigated and charged Marty McSorley, then with the Boston Bruins, after he hit then-Canuck enforcer Donald Brashear with a stick to the head in February 2000.

McSorley, suspended by the NHL for a year, was convicted of assault and given an 18-month conditional discharge plus probation.

The legal principle of volenti non fit injuria -- don't go out there where people are probably going to hurt you as an unavoidable part of the game when played according to the rules and then come complaining to us -- applies in the normal course of a sport. Boxers don't get charged for hitting people in the face; biting their ears off is another matter. Hockey players don't get charged for clean checking without intent to cause injury, but spearing someone in the face with a stick crosses the line, e.g.

...

[ZenLefty]

9. Hockey players should be allowed to carry guns

This way, everyone is polite to each other on the ice, and hits like this would never take place.

:think:

[jimsteuben]

10. we need some puck control

Require registration of all pucks and sticks so that people will stop using them to inflict violence on others.

[jhfenton]

11. Umm...

I think perhaps that playing hockey -- like drinking alcohol -- falls into that category of activities in which it is unwise to engage while carrying a firearm.

If nothing else, you're like to hurt yourself by falling on the gun. :) Or you might damage the gun! :o

[mmm]

12. put him in jail

and ban him for life and fine him big time

[pnb]

14. I don't think he should be prosecuted over this

But he should be suspended for at least the rest of this season, the playoffs, and probably part of next season...and I've been a Todd Bertuzzi fan for a number of years, back when he came up with the Isles.

I'm a huge hockey nut and from everything i've read about this, as dirty as the play was, Bert obviously wasn't trying to break the guys neck. If no injury had happened from the play, no one would be saying boo about it...it is only the unfortunate result that has some people up in arms.

Not that it matters to the situation, but Moore's hit on Naslund, which this was retaliation for, was dirty as well.

Even going back to the last time Vancouver law officers got into this sort of thing in the McSorley-Brashear thing, even Donald Brashear, the victim, said that McSorley shouldn't have been prosecuted. I am willing to go on record that when Moore is able to talk about this, he would say that Bertuzzi shouldn't get in trouble legally for this...just let the league handle it (and of course watch out for Chris Simon the next time Bertuzzi eventually plays against the Avs!!).

[hasbro]

15. The Roster Breaks Down Nationally

for the Avs: 10 Canadians, 6 Americans, 3 Finns, 2 Swedes, a Russian, a Czech, a Latvian, a Slovak, and a Suisseduetch.

Coach Tony Granato is American and the GM is a Canadian who got his US citizenship a couple of years ago.

Andrei Nikolishin (the first guy on Bertuzzi) grew up in Siberia. His father was sent to a Gulag by Stalin because he was a Ukrainian even though he was in the resistance against the Germans. He bristles a bit at being called a commie. (He's was nominally a member of the KGB having joined their house team.)

Moore is Canadian, but he's a US College trained. He's got two degrees from Harvard. Environmental Science and Public Policy.

ANYWAY, Bertuzzi defiantly should be out for the playoffs. could you imagine him against the Avs, when the refs swallowing the whistles? No fighting, but plenty of stick work.

I like that the suspension is open-ended so Moore can pressure the league if he sees fit.

That said Bettman should shut his yap and just let the criminal investigation run it's course. He's proven himself unable to curb violence in the league so maybe law enforcement could act as a deterrent.

I'm sick of hearing, from among others, Vancouver GM Brian Burke about the pile up causing the injuries. If Bertuzzi doesn't hit Moore in the back of the head and drives him into the ice he's not in the ground to be piled on. I've watched the thing about a hundred times since and you can see Bertuzzi's right arm come out, as if he was going to keep pummeling him. So Nikolishin might have prevented Bertuzzi from beating Moore's head against the ice.

I wonder since Bush is trying to distract attention away from attention away from real issues with the Steroid issue that speculation hasn't come up about Bertuzzi. Since speculation is enough to get a baseball player attached, Bertuzzi is a power player with a hair trigger temper. This is his third suspension VERSUS THE AVALANCHE! He got three games for checking from behind and he lost a shot at the scoring title because he came off the bench to punch Scott Parker in the back of the head (10 games mandatory.) He also drew a penalty in a playoff game by driving a player's head into the ice that negated a power play in OT, the Avs subsequently scored and swept the series.

I guess the Roid speculation didn't start because it was two Canadians, in Canada, in a niche sport, and steroids aren't as useful to a hockey player as baseball or football. All bush cares about is baseball and NASCAR dads anyway. He falls asleep during the Super Bowl?!

[Robb]

16. Hi hasbro!

Welcome to DU!

Robb
DU Moderator