March 09, 2004
NHL Roundup
That splatter mark you find on the road on the way to the ferry at Tsawwassen would be the Vancouver Canucks. One week after gamely fighting back to tie the Avalanche on the road in Denver, the Canucks gave up five first period goals to Colorado at home, on the way to a 9-2 wipeout. It was a quick turnaround for the Avalanche, who had been overwhelmed by the Flames, 7-1 just a day before.
But the big news out of Vancouver was the premeditated act of skullduggery performed by Todd Bertuzzi on Avalanche center Steven Moore. You'll recall it was Moore who delivered a clean hit to Marcus Naslund on February 16th, giving him a concussion and sending him off the ice for three games. Though there was a lot of talk before last week's rematch in Colorado of revenge, though there weren't any incidents.
But with last night's game thoroughly out of hand, Bertuzzi decided it was time to take things into his own hands:
Bertuzzi was chasing Moore around the ice midway through the third.
Bertuzzi, Naslund's linemate and close friend, punched Moore in the head from behind while skating at center ice. The 245-pound Canucks winger then jumped on Moore's back and drove him face first into the ice, knocking him unconscious.
"Obviously, I think we all feel bad about someone getting hurt," Naslund said. "Todd feels awful about it and is very sorry. I know it might not mean much right now. As weird as it seems, I don't think that was Todd's intentions. He obviously gave him a sucker punch but he feels really awful about it right now."
Trainers from both teams rushed to Moore's side while players from both teams squared off for more fights. Moore was motionless on the ice with a puddle of blood pouring onto the ice around him.
"It was disgusting," Avalanche defenseman Derek Morris said. "I haven't seen anything like that in my seven years of playing hockey. This was premeditated; this was the worst thing I've seen."
I'm on the record saying that fighting has a place in the game. But as we all know, there are rules. And Bertuzzi has broken those rules -- written and unwritten -- something which resulted in the league suspending him indefinitely pending a review of the incident.
Make no mistake, at times the game we love is the most brutal of all professional sports. And for those on the outside looking in, last night's incident defines our sport in a way that a spectacular goal of the stick of Naslund never could. Without seeing a video replay of the incident (NHL2Night takes Mondays off here in the States), it's hard to judge what penalty would be appropriate, but I'm guessing his suspension is going to be lengthy.
In Detroit, the Lightning got a third period goal from Fredrik Modin to force a 1-1 tie with the Red Wings. With the point, "Da Bolts" clinched there second Southeast Division title in as many seasons, and sit atop the NHL with 91 points. Now comes the challenge of keeping the team focussed, and fresh, now that a playoff spot has been clinched with a little less than a month to go in the season. In Anaheim, Montreal scored three times in the third period on their way to a 5-2 win over the Ducks.
Here in D.C., a little less than 18,000 fans showed up on a Monday night and cheered for ex-Cap Peter Bondra for his first visit back to Washington since being traded to Ottawa ten games ago. Sprinkled among the vintage Bondra jerseys in Caps colors, were more than a few folks who were sporting the new Ottawa duds for the first time. BTW, the Senators won 4-1.
And in Columbus, the Hurricanes polished off the Blue Jackets, 4-1. Aaron Ward scored twice in his first game back from an injury.
The deals are coming faster now that the deadline is upon us, with nine trades coming yesterday alone -- the biggest perhaps being the Avalanche obtaining Matt Barnaby from the Rangers. Valeri Bure goes from Florida to Dallas, while Steve Webb is going to make a triumphant return to Long Island. Anson Carter's stay in Washington was a short one, as the Caps send him to LA for a prospect. The Flyers got Vladimir Malakhov from the Rangers, something which let them send Chris Therien to Dallas.
Remember, the deadline is 3:00 p.m. EST, with more than a few big names still available. Stay tuned.
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You may want to amend your quoted text; Derek Morris and Keith Ballard were shipped to Phoenix for Chris Gratton and Ossi Vaananen.
Avs' GM Lacroix wasn't done, apparently, as he then acquired Tommy Salo as playoff insurance from Edmonton.
I'd say that it's looking to be one of the best playoff years ever.
Posted by:
at March 9, 2004 08:44 AM
i watched the can/ave game last night - it was horrible. berttuzzi's sucker punch was just about the dumbest thing i've ever seen, next to mcsorely head hunting brashear with a stick.
but i don't think he meant to slam moore's head into the ice. i think they fell together - moore because of the punch, bert on top of him. i'm not trying to excuse what happened, i think bert deserves the rest of the season and the first round of the playoffs to think about it.
btw, im a canuck fan living here in the balt/wash area. ive enjoyed reading your blog since i found it.
Posted by:
at March 9, 2004 09:38 AM
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