Todd Bertuzzi - Steve Moore Incident

Steve Moore Incident

On February 16, 2004, during a game between Vancouver and Colorado, Avalanche center Steve Moore injured Canucks team captain Markus Näslund by checking him 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 as a result of the hit, knocking him out of the lineup for three games. Referee Dan Marouelli did not call a penalty, ruling the hit legal, a judgement 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 shit."

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. In a rematch five days later, however, 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, 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 head, then drove Moore's face into the ice as they both fell down. Bertuzzi, as well as several other players from both teams, landed atop Moore as he fell to the ice. Canucks fans initially cheered at Bertuzzi's actions, but as it became apparent 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, 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."