Todd Bertuzzi is Suing Marc Crawford – Analysis … Bertuzzi is a Piece of Garbage
March 28th, 2008 | Posted by Wicked in NHLTodd Bertuzzi is the ultimate scumbag. I respect Bertuzzi less than I respect any other player in NHL or in all of professional sports for that matter. Todd Bertuzzi is suing his former coach, current King’s head coach Marc Crawford for his alleged role in the Steve Moore attack. Steve Moore is suing Todd Bertuzzi for $38 million for his vicious punch to the back of the head and driving his face into the ice fracturing 3 of his vertebrae and ending Steve Moore’s career.
Bertuzzi wants his former coach, Crawford to be on the hook for some of the $38 million should Bertuzzi lose the lawsuit. Bertuzzi claims that Crawford said this before the Bertuzzi hit, “to make (Moore) ‘pay the price’ ” for a hit he delivered on the Canucks’s captain Markus Naslund a couple of weeks earlier. Marc Crawford claims that he actually yelled for Bertuzzi to get off the ice just before the sucker punch was delivered.
Todd Bertuzzi is an absolute piece of garbage and is a coward for blaming other people in one of the most infamous sport’s moments of all time. Regardless of what Crawford said, Bertuzzi is a grown man and knew what he was doing was wrong and could hurt Steve Moore. While Bertuzzi may not have intended to hurt Moore as badly as he did, the intent was there as Bertuzzi blindsided Moore with a sucker punch and drove his head face first into the ice.
Bertuzzi still has not taken complete responsibility for his actions, and I can personally say that I hope he loses this case and has to deal with the monetary loss on his own. Bertuzzi nearly killed a man, and all he can do his blame other people. It was his own fault, and no one made him take a cheap shot at Steve Moore. In this case, I feel that Bertuzzi should have received a permanent ban from the NHL. Not only did he tarnish his own image, but he hurt the image of the NHL and hockey everywhere with that cheapshot.
Now Todd Bertuzzi has resumed his hockey career, playing with the Anaheim Ducks, with the chance of winning the Stanley Cup for the 1st time in his career. Steve Moore is sitting at home with a ruined career and a lifelong injury. Bertuzzi’s actions deserved to be punished in a court of law, and if the law prevails, Bertuzzi will be paying a hefty lawsuit to the man that he maimed on the ice.
I have attached the video courtesy of You Tube of Todd Bertuzzi attacking Steve Moore:
April 5th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
I am neither a Bertuzzi fan, nor a Canuck fan. I am not a Colorado fan either. I am however a hockey fan.
Yes this incident was ugly. It happened not as it was suppose to be played out.
Is Bertuzzi at fault ? Yes.
Is Steve Moore at fault ? Yes.
Is a coach that tells a player to exact revenge at fault ? Yes.
If you want to hit a teams Captain dirty or clean you will get into hot water. Did Moore know this ? Yes.
Hockey is a game. Full of speed, talent and finesse. Hockey also has a underlying brutality and jungle law. Afterall it is a physical game played with sticks.
If Steve Moore had faced the music and taken his lumps without turning his back and trying to escape the inevitable confrontation. He is partially to blame for his action.
When the light turns green for me I still look both ways before crossing the street.
Steve Moore closed his eyes and decided to cross the street. It did not work out for him.
Sure he was hit from behind, but he was confronted from head on previously and took the cowards way out.
Steve Moore was not going to have much of a hockey career. He likely would not be playing in the league now regardless.
Should he get some money. Sure.
Should Bertuzzi get a bill. Sure
Should Crawford be partially to blame (if he did send Bertuzzi). Sure.
But Steve Moore should be asking himself, “Why didn’t I take it like a man, when I could have.”
Steve Moore is a coward. Soon to be a rich coward.
April 13th, 2008 at 1:26 am
Biased much?
I guess you missed the dogpile that landed on Moore?
I guess you missed the concussion that Moore’s blow to Nazzy’s head resulted in?
When Bert tugged on Moore’s jersey, Steve made the choice to ignore him. Now, normally, I’d support him in this. But his coach continued to put him out there, despite the game being a blow out. And knowing, full well, that there was still a score to be settled. Don’t give me this Av’s were holier than thou bs. It was a two sided street and it could’ve been Nazzy who never recovered from his blow (that I’m sure Moore did intend to be one that caused injury). It was the luck of the draw…fate that decided it. Bert hit Moore once. A punch. It happens in hockey. Deal with it.
April 13th, 2008 at 10:20 am
1st of all, I cannot stand the Avalanche, one of my least favorite teams in the NHL. However, Moore’s hit on Naslund was clean. I understand that there are scores to be settled when your leader is hurt, regardless of the nature of the hit.
Sure, Bertuzzi tugged on his jersey and tried to get him to drop the mitts. It doesn’t change the fact that he sucker punched a player from behind.
While the act on Bertuzzi’s part was pretty cowardly, the fact that Bertuzzi can’t face the music like a man, blaming his coach for making him go out there and hurt Moore. 1st of all, Crawford could never make Bertuzzi hurt Moore. 2nd, Crawford would never send one of his best players to go hurt Moore, he would send some cretin like Matt Cooke to do his bidding.
The fact that Bertuzzi won’t own up to his chicken shit cheap shot is the issue here. Sure, let Bertuzzi play, I don’t care, but I do hope that Bertuzzi loses the lawsuit and has to pay the full amount to Moore. In the end, what better irony is there that Moore will be a multi-millionaire after this lawsuit, but had he kept playing in the NHL he never would have made more than $500,000 in a season.
June 21st, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Steve moores Victim Impact Statement. Deb and Doug you might want to read this if you think things like this happen in hockey. Was he suppose to fight the entire team that night? The Canucks and the fans that think this was right are losers.
In the few games that were left to be played in the regular season, three of those games would be played head-to-head with the Canucks, the first of which was played on Feb. 16, 2004 in Denver. It was a close game from start to finish, with Vancouver scoring the only goal in the third period, and winning 1-0. During that game I had a collision with a Canucks player, Markus Naslund, which unfortunately resulted in his leaving the game with an injury. The referees were saying that it had been a clean play.
Canucks player Brad May immediately came after me anyway, and received a roughing penalty. After the game, Canucks players, head coach Marc Crawford, and general manager Brian Burke all were fuming about it. I expressed to the media my respect for Naslund as a player, and that it was unfortunate he was hurt on the play. I also asked a teammate of mine who knew Naslund well to call him and express my well wishes. At the request of the Canucks, the videotape of the play was reviewed again by the NHL head office and again it was established as a clean play.
I was very surprised and disturbed the next day to hear that public threats were being made against me and my health by people in the Canucks’ organization. I was called “a piece of shit” by Todd Bertuzzi. Bertuzzi also said “absolutely” retribution would be exacted upon me. It was said by another Canucks player. May said, “It’s going to be fun when we get him.” There was even a bounty placed on my head. These threats were being repeated on news channels across Canada and the U.S., and were quite alarming to me and very distressing for my family.
The promises for retribution and open threats made against me by various people within the Canucks’ organization were so widely known and of concern, that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, as well as NHL executive vice-president Colin Campbell, felt it necessary to attend the next game between our two teams. This game took place more than two weeks later on March 3 in Denver, and it was understood that the presence of these top officials was to send a clear message that absolutely no violence against me would be tolerated. Nevertheless, despite their presence and warnings they made, players on the Canucks still verbally threatened throughout the entire game that they were going to “get” me, and that sooner or later I was “dead.” The game was a very close one though, ending in a 5-5 tie, which prevented any serious attempt to injure me.
The final regular season match-up between the two teams was five days later, on March 8 in Vancouver.
It was clear right from the start of the game that the Canucks still had their minds strongly set on going after me. They had now been promising to “get” me for three weeks. Those threats were seemingly all the media wanted to talk about. I thought it best for my team that I try to help put this increasing distraction behind us, and accepted a challenge to fight from Canucks player Matt Cooke. This was my first career fight. Meanwhile, our team was playing extremely well, and I scored a goal late in the first period which set an NHL record, capping off our team scoring the fastest five goals in NHL history and bringing our lead to 5-0. The threats being made against me by Canucks players only seemed to increase though, by seemingly every player that came within earshot. The unrelenting attempts to instigate fights with me also continued, and increased with the game now out of reach for the Canucks. Despite the Canucks obsession with trying to “get” me every time I stepped onto the ice, our team continued to try to play through it, and by the third period we were leading the game 8-2…
The next thing I knew, I was in a dark room, strapped down to a stretcher, with a neck brace on, having medical staff cut my equipment off of me. For a moment I was not sure if I was awake or asleep _ until I realized I had woken up to a nightmare. What had happened to me? In a panic, I asked our trainer what was going on. I told him the last thing I knew was that I was playing a hockey game. How did I get here? Am I going to be all right?
I was brought on the stretcher out to a waiting ambulance, and taken to the emergency room of Vancouver General Hospital. My undergarments were stripped off of me, and I was connected to an IV, before I was taken from one room to another for test after test – MRJ, MRA, CT Scans, X-Rays, etc. It was all in a scary blur. Doctor after doctor came in to see me, and told me that we were awaiting details of the tests and did not yet know the extent of my injuries. After what seemed like hours, the doctor returned to my bedside. I was told I had a broken neck. My heart was in my throat. The doctor continued, saying that the fractures did not appear to be affecting the spinal cord, but was unsure yet whether the fractures were impinging the main blood supplies to the brain, the vertebral arteries. We were going to have to do another test to find out. I was whisked away again, for this important scan, and then awaited word on the results. The doctor reappeared a short time later, and I was profoundly relieved for him to tell me that there did not appear to be the need for any immediate surgical intervention, and that I would stay the night under the care of the emergency personnel, and would undergo more tests and evaluation in the morning. My parents, brothers, and girlfriend had been watching the game live on television at home, where they waited in terror for word on my condition, and they prayed. Of my 14 horror-struck relatives who attended the game, and were waiting at the hospital, one was allowed to see me and get some information to relay to my parents. They learned that my neck was broken and that we would find out more in the morning. Each of them, over the next few days, dropped everything in their own lives immediately, and caught flights as soon as possible to be with me.
I was bed-ridden in the Vancouver hospital for nearly a week, and was then transferred to a hospital in Denver, where I would remain indefinitely. Upon my arrival, I went through a whole further batch of tests, scans, and doctor evaluations, which continued for days. I was inspected by neurologists, spine surgeons, orthopaedic surgeons, neuro-surgeons and neuro-psychologists, among others. In the end, I was told my injuries included three spinal fractures in my neck (C3, C4, and Tl), a very serious grade-three concussion, vertebral ligament damage, stretching of the brachial plexus nerves, along with the stitched-up facial cuts I was already well aware of. I spent days confined to my bed in my room, other than for a brief walk up and down the hall twice daily. It was over two weeks before I was even allowed to get outside for a breath of fresh air. I would lie in my hospital room and watch my teammates play without me night after night on television.
Eventually I was released from the Denver Hospital, and had to be moved into a new apartment building, as my existing apartment did not have an elevator and I was not capable of going up and down stairs. There, I was fortunate to have my family and friends take turns travelling across the continent to be with me, take care of me and assist in all the day-to-day requirements of living. This meant enormous sacrifices for everyone involved as my family put lives and careers on hold, missing weeks and even months of work, in order to be with me and help me through this difficult time. My parents run a small family business, and it was an excessive burden for them to be running the business from afar, as well as dealing with the injuries of their son. My girlfriend missed over a month of classes and work, jeopardizing her job, as well as setting her career development back a full year. My brothers and friends took turns leaving their busy lives behind to come out to Denver to look after me. It was a few weeks before I was able to attend my first game live since the incident. I was filled with mixed emotions as I was happy to be able to leave the apartment and be at the rink for an NHL game, and yet I was not going to be there in the same capacity that I always have been _ surrounded by my teammates with them on the ice. It was a difficult position I was to face time and time again until the end of the season.
From that moment in the game on March 8, my reality has been completely altered. The immediate change in my life could hardly have been more drastic. I went from feeling deeply proud of finally, after so much hard work and overcoming so many setbacks, living my lifelong dream, skating alongside my childhood heroes in the NHL _ to suddenly, lying in a hospital bed all day, dealing with severe pain, and prevented from sleep due to the discomfort of a rigid neck brace. The rest of the changes in my life, are still with me today: I am not able to play the game I love; I am not able to experience the reward of my entire life’s work; I am not able to do the things I normally, and so badly want to do; I do not know if I will ever be able to continue in the sport that I have devoted so much of my life to; and I do not know whether I will ever even be back to the same health again.
Dealing with this scary new reality has been incredibly difficult on many levels. Physically, the acute, intense pain in my head, neck and face that was with me for months has significantly improved, but the other negative effects of this I still feel every day. My daily life, even now almost 10 months since, shows little resemblance of the lifestyle I used to have. Active by nature, I now long for exercise, deprived for over three-quarters of a year. The post-concussion symptoms, including headaches, difficulty concentrating and dizziness, prevent me from any activity even resembling a workout. My weeks are still taken up with hours and hours of rehabilitation therapy. Inquisitive and intellectually astute all my life, I now hardly have the mental energy to get through an entire day. I try, often unsuccessfully, to guard against the depression and frustration that comes with not being as sharp, aware or focused as I normally am, and the consequences that go along with that. The enormous amount of stress and emotional turbulence this situation has introduced into my life, and that of my family, has taken its toll on all of us.
This incident has had a severe impact on my financial situation as well. The summer arrived, and it was to be a great summer for me, with my contract ending at the end of the 2003-04 season. It was a true breakout year for me, establishing myself on one of the pre-eminent teams in the NHL. I was playing a very important role supporting the more famous offensive stars, and gaining in ice-time to the point that I was playing more than some of the more recognized names on the team. There is no doubt that the Colorado Avalanche organization was appreciating what I was doing on the ice, and would be anxious to sign me to another contract. It was a bright future with a great organization and great players that I was really looking forward to. I would, finally, be able to reap the rewards of all the years of hard work I had put in, to eventually get to this point. The attack in Vancouver on March 8, however, changed all that. My contractual and financial situation has consequently been drastically compromised, for after playing through the comparatively low entry-level contracts of my first few years, this summer was to be my first chance at a contract of even average compensation. That chance has been lost. I now sit, without a contract, without an effort by the Avalanche to sign me, and without any contract offers at all. Even if I am to somehow make a recovery, and get back to game-playing condition, I still face the possibility that teams will see me as damaged goods, and avoid the perceived risk of signing me.
As I reflect on the impact this attack has had on me, both on my health and on my life as a whole, I am overwhelmed. There is not one single piece of my life where I do not find myself severely and profoundly affected. Everything has changed. The toll that all of these cumulative effects have had on my health and my life, and in my relationships with family and friends, cannot be measured. I think back to anxiously looking forward to being a part of the greatest championship in sports, the Stanley Cup playoffs; thrilled at embarking on such a monumental journey, with such special teammates. Those experiences were taken away from me, and I can never get them back. So many extraordinary experiences that I so unfairly missed out on, are now gone forever. My whole career, built upon the hard work, discipline and commitment of my entire life, and fuelled by a persistent dream, has been halted in its tracks.
My concerns now are no longer those shared with my teammates, such as whether we will win tonight or how I will play. My concern is, will I ever play again? And more fundamentally than that, how much of the damage to my health, physical abilities, mental capacities, family life, personal relationships and future, is permanent and irreparable?
The Victim Impact Statement Form provided to me by Crown Counsel asked me to comment on how I feel regarding contact with the accused. I have no desire to interact with him in any way. I would respectfully request that should I regain my health and someday be able to get back to playing, that Todd Bertuzzi never be permitted to participate in any sporting activity in which I am competing.
Steve Moore