INDEPTH: THE BERTUZZI INCIDENTA blow-by-blow accountCBC Sports Online | Last updated
March 11, 2004
On Feb. 16, Colorado Avalanche forward Steve Moore
made headlines when he knocked Vancouver Canucks captain Markus Naslund
unconscious with an open-ice shoulder hit to the head at the Pepsi
Center. No penalty was called and no action taken by the NHL in the
days that followed.
After the game, Canucks forward Todd Bertuzzi called the officiating
a joke, while teammate Brad May indicated a bounty had been placed
on the 25-year-old Moore, a rookie NHLer.
Sixteen days later, the teams skated to a 5-5 tie in Colorado. The
lone incident was a fight between the Avs' Peter Worrell and Vancouver's
Wade Brookbank. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and executive vice-president
Colin Campbell attended the game.
As the teams prepared for a March 8 contest in Vancouver, all that
seemed to matter was a battle for first place in the Northwest Division.
Here is rundown of events in that game leading up to Bertuzzi's attack
on Moore:
First Period
6:33 – Canucks' Brad May and Avalanche's Peter Worrell
fight.
6:36 – Vancouver's Matt Cooke fights Colorado's Steve
Moore.
6:54 – Milan Hejduk scores to give Colorado 1-0 lead.
10:08 – Vancouver forward Todd Bertuzzi penalized
for interference.
15:09 – Colorado's Joe Sakic scores unassisted to
make it 3-0.
15:31 – Canucks coach Marc Crawford pulls goaltender
Dan Cloutier after Darby Hendrickson increases the Colorado advantage
to 4-0.
17:42 – With Colorado up 5-0, Vancouver's Jarkko
Ruutu and Avs' Rob Blake serve five minutes each for fighting.
18:03 – Worrell and May fight for the second time.
First Intermission
NHL executive vice-president Colin Campbell and director of officiating
Andy van Hellemond placed a phone call to referees Dennis LaRue and
Stephen Walkom in the officials' room to discuss the potential for
additional fights or other events during the lopsided game.
Second Period
7:24 – May scores to cut Colorado lead to 5-1. Trevor
Linden breaks the Canucks' all-time record with his 674th assist,
surpassing Stan Smyl.
8:16 – May notches second goal to make it a three-goal
game. He than talks his way into a 10-minute misconduct penalty by
taunting Colorado goalie David Aebischer.
10:51 – Cooke penalized two minutes for goaltender
interference.
12:33 – Avs forward Steve Konowalchuk serves two
minutes for high-sticking a Canucks player.
Third Period
1:09 – Paul Kariya extends Colorado lead to 7-2 with
an unassisted goal.
2:20 – May sent to penalty box for roughing.
5:19 – Canucks' Wade Brookbank penalized for roughing.
8:41 – With the Avalanche leading 8-2, Bertuzzi attacks
Moore, delivering a roundhouse sucker-punch that knocks Moore to the
ice. Bertuzzi helps drive Moore face-first into the ice, resulting
in a pile-on of players.
Seconds before the attack, Bertuzzi chases Moore from one end of the
ice to the other, with the latter turning his back on an apparent
challenge from Bertuzzi. He then grabs the back of Moore's jersey
as the pair skates toward centre ice.
The crowd at General Motors Place initially reacts with scattered
cheers, but the building turns silent as it becomes apparent Moore
is seriously injured.
Bertuzzi is given a match penalty for attempt to injure, ending his
night. May is assessed five-minute major for fighting Avs' Kurt Sauer,
a 10-minute misconduct and game misconduct. Sauer is also handed 10-minute
major and game misconduct. Colorado coach Tony Granato yells at Crawford
and has to be restrained at the Avs' bench.
After a 10-minute delay, Moore is strapped to a stretcher and taken to a Vancouver hospital.
11:59 – Hejduk completes scoring with a hat-trick goal to make it 9-2 Avalanche.
17:24 – Worrell ejected for spearing Brookbank. He's given two-minute penalty, along with two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct and a 10-minute misconduct.
17:24 – Brookbank is assessed two-minute penalty for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct.
17:24 – Vancouver fans pelt Worrell with debris as he leaves ice.
20:00 - Fights break out in the crowd after final buzzer.
