March 10, 2004

It's just disgusting. Sometimes things can get out of hand and get real ugly, real fast. Vancouver Canucks star forward Todd Bertuzzi committed a nasty act on Colorado Avalanche's Steve Moore, who had a somewhat questionable hit on Markus Naslund two meetings ago. I was going to link to a video, but that link doesn't seem to be working anymore. Anyway, already down 8-2 on an already hideous hockey game, Big Bert grabbed Moore's jersey as they were skating down the ice and clocked him in the side of the head with a big right-hander. Moore's body seemed to slump right after, and I think Bert was trying to get on him after the punch. Moore's head tilted down, and his body followed suit, with Bertuzzi coming down on top of him from behind. Moore goes head-first into the ice, with most of Bert's weight on top; probably made worse by having another Avalanche player jump on Bertuzzi giving him a few shots. Blood spilled from Moore's head as he lay there unconscious and motionless. Then the medical staff poured onto the ice, and eventually wheeled him away on a stretcher. It was a sick thing to watch.

Bertuzzi's suspended indefinitely until the league gets a chance to review the event, and he's also being investigated by Vancouver RCMP for criminal assault. I hope he gets it. I know he didn't intend to do that much damage, but even a cheap-ass sucker punch from behind (when you're that big and that strong) is uncalled for. That shit's just not right. Anyway, he gets his NHL hearing on Wednesday.

Moore, on the other hand, is staying at the Vancouver General Hospital after suffering a concussion, 2 cracked vertebrae, and a broken jaw. I already felt sorry for him before this happened, because he was the target of the Vancouver bench since two games ago. I didn't even think the hit on Nazzy was really intentional, even though Naslund did miss 3 games with a concussion. Each shift he was on the ice, he had challenges. Takes the game to a whole new level, does it. Anyway, I hope he's able to recover quickly, and won't have to end his career this way.

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