Sucker punch KOs Avs' Moore for season

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Mar 10, 2004 | by ASSOCIATED PRESS

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Colorado forward Steve Moore will miss the rest of the season with a broken neck, the result of a sucker punch from Vancouver's Todd Bertuzzi that is being investigated by police.

Moore also sustained a concussion and deep cuts on his face, and he will remain hospitalized in Vancouver indefinitely.

"It doesn't matter what the score was, what the time was, what the place was, what the history was, there's no room in our game for that," Colorado coach Tony Granato said.

Bertuzzi, an All-Star forward, slugged Moore in the side of the head late in Monday night's 9-2 Colorado victory. He was suspended indefinitely pending a hearing at the NHL office in Toronto on Wednesday.

Bertuzzi hit Moore from behind and drove his head into the ice. Moore landed face-first -- with the 245-pound Bertuzzi on top of him - - and lay in a pool of blood for several minutes before he was removed on a stretcher.

"All I'm concerned with is he regain his health," said Pierre Lacroix, Avalanche president and general manager. "All legal matters and all medical matters, I don't want to think about."

B.C. Solicitor General Rich Coleman and Vancouver police are investigating, the second time in four years police have looked into an on-ice hit at an NHL game in the city.

Former Boston Bruin Marty McSorley was charged for hitting then- Vancouver Canuck Donald Brashear with his stick in February 2000.

McSorley was convicted of assault with a weapon, but he received an 18-month conditional discharge, meaning no jail time. He was suspended and retired.

Bertuzzi's punch appeared to be retaliation for an open-ice hit Moore delivered to Canucks captain Markus Naslund last month, knocking him out for three games.

Francis goes to Toronto

Ron Francis, the fourth-leading scorer in NHL history, waved his no-trade clause just hours before the league's dealing deadline and was shipped by Carolina to Toronto in search of his third Stanley Cup.

Of the 30 NHL teams, 24 made at least one trade Tuesday.

The New York Rangers finished their eight-day roster shakeup by sending defenseman Greg de Vries to the Ottawa Senators for defenseman Karel Rachunek and forward Alexandre Giroux, and dealing left winger Martin Rucinsky to the Vancouver Canucks for unsigned forward R.J. Umberger and defenseman Martin Grenier.