Moore press conference

[Highland 0]

Discuss.

 

I'll put up a link when they have it on the site.

[Highland 0]

And here's the link.

 

3/29/2004

 

DENVER (CP) - Colorado Avalanche rookie Steve Moore has no memory of being attacked by Todd Bertuzzi and says he could only stomach watching it a few times on tape.

 

``I have seen the video of it, not many times,'' he told a news conference Monday at the Pepsi Center. ``The couple of times I saw was enough.''

 

Wearing a neck brace and with a welt still visible below his right eye, Moore made his first public comments since being injured during a March 8 game in Vancouver.

 

He said he does not remember being injured, with a blank spot of about 15 to 20 minutes on each side of the incident.

``I have no memory of that,'' he said.

 

``My first memory actually is well after I had been taken off the ice, in the medical room at GM Place,'' he added. ``I can't explain how scary it is to kind of wake up to a nightmare.

 

``I'm playing a game, the next thing I know I'm lying in a room with medical personnel standing over me. I have a neck brace on and I'm having my equipment cut off of me and I'm strapped down, and I really had no idea what was going on. It's pretty scary.''

 

Moore, who said he has not spoken to Bertuzzi since, steered away from assigning blame. Instead he made a point of thanking people everywhere for their support, specifically singling out the people of Vancouver and Denver.

 

But he did say: ``That kind of stuff doesn't have any place in the game. That's all I want to say about that.''

 

Moore was released from hospital on March 22, two weeks after he was punched from behind by Bertuzzi.

 

``As I sit here today, I don't know whether I'll be able to play again,'' he said. ``But I remain optimistic. I'm more just fortunate to be alive and to take one day at a time.''

 

``I've come a long way,'' he added. ``Hopefully one day I'll be able to play again.''

 

It's believed Bertuzzi went after Moore for a Feb. 16 hit that sidelined Vancouver captain Markus Naslund for three games. There was no penalty on the Naslund hit.

 

Bertuzzi sucker-punched Moore from behind, driving his head into the ice as both players fell forward.

 

Moore, 25, ended up in the hospital with three fractured vertebrae - two to cervical vertebrae and a fracture of the transverse process in a thoracic vertebra - facial cuts, significant post-concussion symptoms and ``significant amnesia.''

 

Nerves in the neck area were also stretched by the blow.

 

At the time of his release from hospital, team doctors said it was not known when - or if - he could play hockey again.

 

Bertuzzi, 29, was suspended for the rest of the regular season - 13 games in all - and for the playoffs. He will have to meet with the league before being reinstated next season.

 

Going into Monday night's game against Phoenix, Vancouver was 3-4-2 since the Bertuzzi incident.

 

The Canucks power forward has since spent time at GM Place in Vancouver but hasn't spoken with reporters since a tearful apology the night before his punishment was announced in Toronto by the league.

 

``Steve, I just want to apologize for what happened out there,'' said Bertuzzi. ``I had no intention of hurting you. I feel awful for what transpired.''

 

``I don't play the game that way,'' he added. ``I'm not a mean-spirited person. I'm sorry for what happened.''

 

Bertuzzi will forfeit some $500,000 US in salary.

 

Bertuzzi got off lightly, as far as I'm concerned, but the league has to start laying out consistent punishments for those that break the rules, especially acts as heinous as this.

[starvenger 0]

He'd better be out for the next season (the next one they play that is) - at least that would be consistent with McSorley's suspension.

[the max 0]

http://tsn.ca/news_story.asp?ID=78304

 

Report: Bettman issues warning

 

TSN.ca Staff

 

3/29/2004

 

Gary Bettman has seen and heard enough.

 

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the NHL Commissioner sent a memo to all teams last week warning coaches and general managers that they are accountable for the behaviour of their players on the ice.

 

Since Todd Bertuzzi's unprovoked attack on Steve Moore, the league has levied fines and suspensions for a number of incidents, including another blindside punch and multiple line brawls near the conclusion of games.

 

"It was a good memo; it was exactly what should have been done," Philadelphia Flyers general manager Bob Clarke told the newspaper. "It put responsibility not only on the players, but on the coaches and managers. If these type of things, that are so wrong in our sport, continue, then the coaches and managers will be held as responsible as the players."

 

 

 

Earlier this month, Calgary Flames head coach Darryl Sutter was suspended for two games after inciting a line brawl at the end of a loss to the Nashville Predators.

 

Without quoting specifics, the memo also warned that any public statements regarding "retribution and retaliation" would be dealt with harshly.

 

After Senators winger Martin Havlat highsticked Mark Recchi last month, Flyers head coach Ken Hitchcock said someday, someone would make Havlat "eat his lunch". Hitchcock was not penalized for the comments at the time. Next time may be different.

 

"What the memo says is at the end of the day, the teams are responsible for the climate on their club," one NHL official said. "It's up to the coaches and GMs to turn the temperature down if the heat gets too high... And if you don't, you're going to pay for it."

 

Clarke said he agreed with Bettman that the coaches and general managers have to assume a greater share of responsibility for player's actions.

 

"I guess you can blame managers and coaches for not talking to people and make the players understand," Clarke said. "Make them understand you play the puck and that the whole goal is not to just hurt people, but to score goals."

 

The memo will be put to the test on April 2 when the Senators return to Philadelphia to face the Flyers.

[CanadianChris 0]

He'd better be out for the next season (the next one they play that is) - at least that would be consistent with McSorley's suspension.

Not exactly -- McSorley could have applied to the league for reinstatement at the start of the season. He just never did.

[Red Baron 0]

Bertuzzi will miss a certain amount of games if Vancouver goes far in the playoffs or not.

[Brush with Greatness 0]

But he did say: ``That kind of stuff doesn't have any place in the game. That's all I want to say about that.''

 

What about cheap shot elbows to the head?

[Guest AllCanadian]

But he did say: ``That kind of stuff doesn't have any place in the game. That's all I want to say about that.''

 

What about cheap shot elbows to the head?

And the cross checking of other star players from behind?? What a drama queen Moore is.

[LaParkaMarka 0]

In keeping in line with the NHL, he was probably talking about the neck-breaking part, as opposed to the spirit of what Bertuzzi did.

 

Terrible injuries that result from cheapshots are bad. Those who injure are punished.

 

Of course, cheapshots that do not cause injury are perfectly ok! This is why Brad Ference got nothing for an eerily similar cheapshot to Martin Sonnenberg last week.