Bertuzzi decision expected Thursday Bertuzzi decision expected Thursday

Sports Network ^ | 3/10/2004 | Sports network

[SolutionsOnly]

Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Vancouver Canucks center Todd Bertuzzi had a one hour disciplinary hearing on Wednesday for intentionally injuring Colorado Avalanche center Steve Moore. The incident took place on Monday during Colorado's 9-2 victory at GM Place.

Colin Campbell, the NHL's vice president and disciplinarian, is expected to issue his ruling Thursday morning.

Bertuzzi was suspended indefinitely just hours after the game by the National Hockey League. Moore remains in a Vancouver hospital bed with a broken neck, a concussion and deep cuts on his face.

Bertuzzi punched Moore in the head from behind and then jumped on his back and drove him face-first into the ice, knocking him unconscious. Moore, who scored a goal earlier in the game, laid motionless in a puddle of blood before being carted off on a stretcher. Bertuzzi received a match penalty for his actions, which comes with an automatic review by the NHL.

Bertuzzi's actions appeared to be in retaliation for a hit Moore delivered to Canucks captain and Bertuzzi's friend Markus Naslund last month. The open-ice hit by Moore sidelined Naslund with a concussion for three games. After that game, Vancouver players vowed to get even with Moore.

The teams met again last week in Colorado, but with commissioner Gary Bettman in attendance, the game was played without incident.

Prosecutors and Vancouver police are investigating Monday's attack, which marks the second time in four years law enforcement has looked into an on-ice hit at an NHL game in the city.

In February 2000, former Boston Bruin Marty McSorley was charged for hitting then-Vancouver Canuck Donald Brashear with his stick. McSorley was convicted of assault with a weapon and received an 18-month conditional discharge, avoiding a prison sentence and no criminal record after probation.

The league suspended McSorley for a year and he retired after a 17-year NHL career.

In 57 games this season, his first full season with the Avalanche, Moore has five goals and 12 points. He will not play again this season.

Bertuzzi has 17 goals and 43 assists on the season and will serve the first game of the suspension on Wednesday when Vancouver hosts Minnesota. He is reportedly distraught over the incident.

03/10 17:06:21 ET

[Charles Henrickson]

. . . sending an inferior player on the ice . . . specifically to injure an opposing team's star player. . . .

Hey, that sort of thing has been going on in the NHL for decades--at least to harrass the star player, if not injure him.

I remember being at the old Chicago Stadium back in the '60s when the Golden Jet, Bobby Hull, finally had had enough of Detroit's Bugsy Watson shadowing him and playing dirty with him. Hull just laid into him! Besides being the most talented player in the league, Hull was also one of the strongest. (I saw Hull shatter the glass one time with his slap shot.)

[Alberta's Child]

Thanks! They've done some work on the Trans-Canada Highway through Banff National Park in the last few years. They've twinned the roadway as far west as Lake Louise, and they built several animal overpasses to allow elk, wolves, etc. to migrate from one side to the other without crossing the road.

I highly recommend a trip up there -- and don't forget to visit Jasper National Park and the two British Columbia parks (Yoho and Kootenay) as well!

[SShultz460]

I completly agree!

You draw a parrallel with the Last Boy Scout, and I can't really come back against it. The dude broke an opponent's neck with an intentional action.

I love the ice justice of Hockey but it's hard to defend it when you knock a guy out and drive his head into the ice.

I support a year long ban for Bertuzzi at the min., if not the Lifetime.