Todd Bertuzzi

Todd Bertuzzi (b. 2 February, 1975 in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada) is a professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Florida Panthers.

Playing career

Bertuzzi was drafted in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Islanders, but was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in 1998 along with Bryan McCabe for Trevor Linden. (Linden has since returned to Vancouver.) Bertuzzi's best season was 2002-2003, when he had 97 points.

Bertuzzi played on the top line of the Vancouver Canucks, sometimes referred to as the West Coast Express, which consisted of himself, Markus Näslund, and Brendan Morrison. Bertuzzi is one of the league's largest and most feared players, renowned for his thunderous checks and adept scoring ability.

On June 23, 2006 Bertuzzi was traded to the Florida Panthers along with Bryan Allen and Alex Auld in exchange for Roberto Luongo, Lukas Krajicek and a sixth round draft pick.

The "Steve Moore incident"

On February 16 2004, during a Vancouver-Colorado game, player Steve Moore injured Vancouver Canucks team captain Markus Näslund with a hard open-ice body check. The attending referee's opinion was that the hit was legal and required no penalty, a call that was later reviewed by NHL officials, who upheld his decision. This drew the ire of many Vancouver Canucks as their captain was sidelined with a concussion for three games. Canucks head coach Marc Crawford publicly criticized the non-call by the referees on the incident. Canucks general manager Brian Burke criticized Moore after the game, calling him "a marginal player," and accusing him of "headhunting"^*.

During another Vancouver-Colorado game three weeks after the Naslund hit, on March 8 2004, Bertuzzi began following Steve Moore down the ice attempting to instigate a fight. When Moore ignored him, Bertuzzi punched Moore blindly in the side of the head. They fell to the ice with Bertuzzi behind Moore, their momentum driving Moore into the ice. At this point, Moore's Colorado teammates retaliated against Bertuzzi, jumping on and around the ensuing pile. Moore suffered three fractured vertebrae in his neck, a grade three concussion, vertebral ligament damage, stretching of the brachial plexus nerves, and facial cuts.

Aftermath

On 10 March, 2004, Bertuzzi scheduled a press conference where he emotionally apologized to Moore and his family, as well as to Brian Burke, John McCaw, the Canucks organization, his teammates, and the fans. "I’m truly sorry. I don’t play the game that way, I’m not a mean-spirited person. And I’m sorry for what happened."^*

On 24 June, 2004, the criminal justice branch of the British Columbia Ministry of the Attorney General announced that Bertuzzi was formally charged with assault causing bodily harm.

Bertuzzi was suspended indefinitely by the NHL, and lost approximately $500,000 USD in pay. The Vancouver Canucks were also fined $250,000 USD, on 11 March, 2004 for "...failure to prevent the atmosphere that may have led to incident."

Although Bertuzzi had played in a charity game in Vancouver that was arranged during the 2004-05 NHL lockout, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) had extended his suspension to cover their jurisdiction. This meant that Bertuzzi could not play hockey in Europe during the lockout. It was felt that in the gentler European leagues, Bertuzzi would have drawn too much negative publicity.

On 22 December, 2004 Bertuzzi pleaded guilty to the assault charge after arranging a plea bargain with prosecutors. He was given a conditional discharge and one year's probation. (Under Canadian law, as Bertuzzi has successfully completed the probation the criminal record of the incident has been expunged.)^*

On February 17 2005, Bertuzzi was named in a lawsuit filed by Steve Moore. Also named were Brad May, Brian Burke (the Canucks' general manager at the time of the incident), and the Canucks team. The lawsuit was thrown out in October 2005, as the Colorado judge felt that British Columbia was a better venue for the suit.^* Moore plans to appeal the lawsuit.

On August 8 2005, the NHL announced that Bertuzzi would be allowed to play hockey again at the start of the 2005-06 NHL season. ^* In the league's decision, they cited many reasons for ending the suspension, such as:

Bertuzzi serving a suspension of 20 games, tied for 4th longest in NHL history (13 regular season games, 7 playoff games) ^*^*
Bertuzzi's repeated attempts to apologize to Mr. Moore personally
Bertuzzi's forfeited salary ($501,926.39 USD)
Lost endorsements (approximately $350,000.00 USD)
Significant uncertainty, anxiety, stress and emotional pain caused to Bertuzzi's family
The commissioner's belief that Mr. Bertuzzi is genuinely remorseful and apologetic for his actions

On August 15 2005, Bertuzzi broke his 17 month long silence by once again admitting to his mistake and expressing a desire to move on with his life. "I'm sure just like Steve Moore and his family, it's been difficult for both parties. I know I wish that day never happened. It's been some tough times, but I've got good family and good friends and good peers in the league that have helped me get over the hump and move forward and come through it." ^*

On November 8 2005, Moore's Toronto-based lawyer, Tim Danson, says that Moore is skating and doing regular workouts, but continues to suffer concussion-related symptoms.''^*

On February 16 2006, Moore filed a civil suit in the province of Ontario against Bertuzzi, The Vancouver Canucks, and the parent company of the Canucks, Orca Bay. He is seeking dollars|CAD$" target="_blank" >^*15 million in pecuniary damages for loss of income, dollar|CAD$" target="_blank" >^*1 million for aggravated damages, and dollars|CAD$" target="_blank" >^*2 million for punitive damages. Moore's parents Jack and Anna, who were watching their son on television when the attack happened, are also suing, seeking dollars|CAD$" target="_blank" >^*1.5 million for "for negligent infliction of nervous shock and mental distress."The lawsuit claims that "Anna was screaming and crying hysterically. Jack was utterly frozen in shock ..." There was some question in the media as to the timing of the lawsuit, which was filed shortly after the first game in the Olympics for Team Canada and Bertuzzi, but Moore's lawyer Tim Danson said, "There's nothing to the timing other than the fact that there's a limitation period."[http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1140043816861&call_pageid=968867503640&col=970081593064 The statute of limitations he referred was based on linking the charges to the Näslund hit, and thus expired on February 17 2006.

2006 Winter Olympics

Bertuzzi was selected to play on the Canadian national men's hockey team at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy. His inclusion, along with that of Dany Heatley and Shane Doan, was discussed at length by the Canadian Olympic Committee. The committee had concerns stemming from the Steve Moore incident and Bertuzzi's probationary status but subsequently approved his representation of Canada at the Olympic games. According to a CP article, "meeting was prompted by some media concerns raised over the three athletes participating in the Games. The fact it took the committee so long to approve the list means there was some debate."[http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=147944&hubname=nhl" target="_blank" >^*

Bertuzzi would go on to earn 3 assists and a +1 rating in 6 games. However, they would fail to advance past the quarterfinals due to a 2-0 loss to Team Russia, and would finish the Winter Olympics in 7th place overall. This loss was a great disappointment to Team Canada, who felt assured that a medal would be earned.^*

Achievements

1995 - OHL Second All-Star team
2003 - NHL First All-Star Team
2003 - Played in NHL All-Star Game
2004 - Played in NHL All-Star Game

Career statistics

			Regular Season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1991-91	Guelph	OHL	42	7	14	21	145	--	--	--	--	--
1992-93	Guelph	OHL	60	27	31	58	168	5	2	2	4	6
1993-94	Guelph	OHL	61	28	54	82	165	9	2	6	8	30
1994-95	Guelph	OHL	62	54	65	119	58	14	15	18	33	41
1995-96	NY Islanders	NHL	76	18	21	39	83	--	--	--	--	--
1996-97	Utah	IHL	13	5	5	10	16	--	--	--	--	--
1996-97	NY Islanders	NHL	64	10	13	23	68	--	--	--	--	--
1997-98	NY Islanders	NHL	52	7	11	18	58	--	--	--	--	--
1997-98	Vancouver	NHL	22	6	9	15	63	--	--	--	--	--
1998-99	Vancouver	NHL	32	8	8	16	44	--	--	--	--	--
1999-00	Vancouver	NHL	80	25	25	50	126	--	--	--	--	--
2000-01	Vancouver	NHL	79	25	30	55	93	4	2	2	4	8
2001-02	Vancouver	NHL	72	36	49	85	110	6	2	2	4	14
2002-03	Vancouver	NHL	82	46	51	97	144	14	2	4	6	60
2003-04	Vancouver	NHL	69	17	43	60	122	--	--	--	--	--
2005-06	Vancouver	NHL	82	25	46	71	120	--	--	--	--	--
NHL Totals			710	223	306	529	1031	24	6	8	14	82

External sources

External links

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Todd Bertuzzi