So much has happened since then...
Carolina has gone from the bottom dwellers to the Stanley Cup Champions. Sidney Crosby has been taken 1st overall by Pittsburgh. Sweden won a gold medal at the Winter Olympics and Peyton Manning won a Super Bowl ring.
This all has happened since that night in Vancouver 3 years a go. The most gruesome since in sports, even ahead of, "The Rocket's " attack of the ref and a Montreal riot
Tonight will be the night that 3 years a go it happened. Tonight was the night Todd Bertuzzi destroyed a career. Vancouver's Todd Bertuzzi took a very dangerous run at Colorado's Steve Moore. Bertuzzi was trying to get back at Moore as he had knocked out their captain Markus Naslund the game before. The run proved very costly and life-threatening as Bertuzzi grabbed Moore from behind and drove Moore's head into the ice. The blow broke Moore's neck and ended his career.
Steve Moore hasn't played in the NHL since that night, but he has done all that he can to make Bertuzzi's life as horrific as his is now. Moore has filed multiple law suits against Bertuzzi, none of them successful. Bertuzzi did get suspended for a great amount of time. He was thrown out of the league for the rest of the regular season and the rest of the playoffs.
The strange thing about this thing is that I believe that this was one of the best things to happen to hockey. The NHL has been more aware of head shots now more than ever after that hit on Moore. In only this year Cam Janssen has been dealt a 3 game on a head shot and a 5 game suspension was given to a sucker punch by a Nashville player on the head. The NHL has made some real progress
Hopefully, nothing like the Bertuzzi's incident will happen ever again.
3 comments:
Bertuzzi's attack on Moore ruined more than 1 career....it ruined his own as well. He has never been the player he once was. As for the NHL making strides against head-shots..I don't agree. Janssen's 3 game suspension was nothing more than a slap on the wrist. Meanwhile one of the cleanest elite players in the NHL, Kaberle, will not be able to help his team make the playoffs and, from what I hear, will not play until next fall even if the Leafs do advance. It hardly seems like justice.
Wheels has a good argument on discipline or rather the lack of it. Simon's hit was probably even more violent than Janssen's and definitely with malice. The NHL is still dealing with this situation so lets watch.
On another note, Ottawa sure looked good the other night. They will make it two in a row on saturday. You might need to get your golf clubs out early.
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