Bertuzzi charged with assault for on-ice punch

Todd Bertuzzi was suspended for the postseason and still has to apply for reinstatement. Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- Canucks star Todd Bertuzzi was charged Thursday with assault for a sucker-punch that left Colorado's Steve Moore with neck injuries and prompted widespread criticism of hockey violence.

The charges -- assault causing bodily harm -- were announced by the criminal justice branch of the ministry of the attorney general after an investigation that lasted four months.

Bertuzzi has been ordered to appear in provincial court July 9.

The March 8 attack left Moore in hospitalized with three fractured vertebrae, facial cuts, post-concussion symptoms and amnesia. Nerves in the neck area were also stretched. Doctors say it's not known when, or if, Moore can play hockey again.

The NHL suspended Bertuzzi for the final 13 games of the regular season and Vancouver's seven playoff games.

The suspension cost Bertuzzi nearly $502,000 of his $6.8 million salary. The Canucks were also fined $250,000. Bertuzzi also was left off Canada's roster for this fall's World Cup.

His indefinite suspension won't be lifted until NHL commissioner Gary Bettman holds a hearing with the Vancouver star. Last month, Bettman gave no indication when that meeting might happen.

Bertuzzi's only public comment was a tearful apology two nights after the game.

"Steve, I just want to apologize for what happened out there," he said at the time. "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."

During the game, with the Avalanche ahead 8-2, the 6-foot-3, 235-pound Bertuzzi grabbed Moore from behind at 8:41 of the third period. He sucker-punched the Avs forward on the side of his head and then landed on top of the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Moore, driving his head into the ice.

The punch was witnessed by more than 18,000 people at the arena and has been shown repeatedly in TV clips broadcast across North America and Europe.

The attack was seen as retaliation for a hit Moore put on Vancouver star Markus Naslund that left the Canuck captain with a concussion and sidelined him for three games.

There is precedent for a hockey player facing charges for his on-ice action. Most recently, Marty McSorely, then with the Boston Bruins, was charged with assault after bashing then-Canuck Donald Brashear with a stick to the head in February 2000. McSorley was convicted of assault with a weapon and given an 18-month conditional discharge.

Bertuzzi had 17 goals and 43 assists in 69 games this season. Moore had five goals, seven assists in 57 games.

When Frex said "Toughness is not hiting from behind" the other day, I was about to ask him, "You mean that Bertuzzi is not a tough guy? "

I'm glad he's charged with assault.

I like 'Tuzzi, and I believe he embodies everything a power forward should be.  However, I azdmit the hit was a chickenshit move, and I think Bert should have had more sense than to listen to the goadings of Marc Crawford after he put the "bounty" on Steve Moore's head.  In my opinion, Crawford should be in the dock as well.

In fact, Crawford has been known to provoke his players into attacking on more than one occasion.  Remember that vicious hit/ boarding Claude Lemeuix lay on Kris Draper in the 1996/87 playoffs?  Guess who was behind the bench of the Avs at the time...

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``I'd love to have a pre-game skate tomorrow and be getting ready for Game 8,'' he said wistfully. ``It just makes me excited for training camp.''
- Shean Donovan, two days after losing Game 7 of the SCF