Fighting In Hockey: Steve Moore V. Bertuzzi
Hockey, about the only team sport where fighting is an embraced aspect of the game. Under certain circumstances though, where two players square off and referees are close by to break it up at their discretion. So is fighting considered illegal in hockey? Technically all fighting within a game is illegal and will receive a penalty in which the referee decides depending on the circumstances, but it’s usually a five minute major penalty which sends the players involved to “the box”. Fighting is governed by a complex system of unwritten rules that players, coaches, officials and the media refer to as “the code”. So the question is, when does one cross the line and break this code? There is no definite answer to this question but it is popular belief that when a player maliciously attacks another player with an intent to injure, or acts/commits an act out of the normal realm of a one on one fist fight then it is considered breaking the code. In this paper we shall analyze an incident involving current Red Wings forward Todd Bertuzzi. It all started on February 16, 2004 during a Vancouver-Colorado game, a matchup between heated rivals. League leading scorer and team captain Markus Naslund of the Vancouver Canucks was reaching for a puck ahead of him
…show more content…
before Colorado Avalanche center Steve Moore elbow checked him in the head. It was a very questionable hit in which the referee’s did not call a penalty and resulted in Naslund suffering a minor concussion and a bone chip in his elbow which knocked him out of the lineup for the next three games. Canucks Head coach Marc Crawford publicly criticized the no call, stating that the referees needed to show respect for the league’s leading scorer. The Vancouver general manager Brian Burke, also the league’s former chief disciplinarian, called the play a “headhunting hit”. Many Canucks players also voiced their opinions implying they intended to retaliate, in particular Brad May issuing a “bounty” on Moore’s head. Even with all the criticism by the Canucks officials, coaches and players, the league ruled that the referee was correct by judging the hit legal, bearing no punishment. In the next matchup between the two rivals the NHL’s commissioner and disciplinarian were both in attendance, showing that they were keeping a watchful eye on the two teams. No major incidents broke out. In the next meeting on March 8, 2004 is where Todd Bertuzzi came into play. Canucks forward Matt Cooke had already fought Moore in the first period. Fast forwarding to the third period with the Canucks trailing 8-2, Todd Bertuzzi started following Moore down the ice in an attempt to provoke a fistfight. When Moore showed no interest in fighting, Bertuzzi, behind Moore, grabbed his jersey and sucker punched him in the back of the head and drove his lifeless body into the ice head first. Not soon after a Canuck player jumped on top of the two soon followed by multiple Avalanche and Canucks players and it turned into a big pig pile melee. After lying on the ice for several minutes with a pool of blood beneath his face, Moore was removed on a stretcher. He suffered three fractured vertebrae in his neck, a grade three concussion, vertebral ligament damage, stretching of the brachial plexus nerves, and facial cuts, resulting in the end of his short hockey career. Two days after the incident Bertuzzi scheduled a press conference where he wept and apologized to Moore and his family, as well as to the commissioner, the Canucks organization, his teammates and the fans. Bertuzzi was suspended indefinitely by the NHL and lost approximately $850,000 in salary and endorsements. The Canucks were also fined $250,000 for “failure to prevent the atmosphere that may have led to the incident”. Bertuzzi ended up being suspended for 20 games, 7 of them being playoff games and was reinstated the next season by the NHL because they felt that he was genuinely remorseful and had suffered enough financially and emotionally. Legal implications of this incident will be visited later in this essay. In the wake of this incident, one might ask, can hockey violence be illegal in the sense of United States law? The answer is yes, because there is no law that specifically exempts athletes from being prosecuted for assaults that occur during competition. So theoretically its possible that a prosecutor could file charges every time a winger gets cross checked or sucker punched. However, there’s a gentleman’s agreement of sorts that exists between professional sports leagues and authorities. As long as the NHL, and other leagues, police themselves and give out fines and suspensions to offenders, prosecutors will generally leave it alone. This works for both parties because the NHL doesn’t want courts interfering with their business, and prosecutors know guilty verdicts would be few and far between. The first reason for that would be because many simple assault cases require the willingness of victims to press charges, and few pro hockey players want to carry their on-ice feuds into the courts. The second reason is implied consent, which is an accepted defense against assault charges, and it is clear NHL players realize that they imply their consent to their fare share of lumps and bruises. However, prosecutors have broad discretion to bring a charge against and athlete, and they’ll do just that if they feel that a violent incident went beyond the pale, especially if they feel they can prove that the victim did not consent to the level of violence he was subjected to. It has been more often that Canadian crown attorneys have prosecuted egregious cases of NHL violence because the sport’s integrity is so vital to the country’s national identity. For example in 1988 Minnesota North Stars forward Dino Ciccarelli pleaded guilty to assault charges in Toronto for slashing Maple Leafs defenseman Luke Richardson in the head which resulted in him being jailed for one day. And in 2000, Boston Bruins enforcer Marty McSorley was convicted of a similar crime in Vancouver and sentenced to 18 months probation. Prosecutors consider a variety of factors in deciding whether to pursue a criminal case, including: premeditation, the degree of viciousness, and whether there was intent to injure. So in the Todd Bertuzzi case, it is obvious that the incident went past the players’ implied consent, because one would not expect that they are going to get sucker punched from behind and their face piledriven into the ice resulting in a concussion, vertebral damage and the termination of his career. As far as Betuzzi goes, one might say that he acted in negligence. Negligence is defined as the failure to use reasonable care. The doing of something which a reasonably prudent person would not do, or the failure to do something which a reasonably prudent person would do under like circumstances. However, in Bertuzzi’s case his wrongdoings were classified as an intentional tort, or intentional harm tort. An intentional tort occurs when one intentionally causes another to suffer an injury. The important distinction is harm is not caused by accident or oversight but by intent. Now even though Bertuzzi was remorseful for his actions and wish it never happened, the facts of the case were that the Canucks players vowed they would take revenge on Steve Moore, and simply fighting him in the first period wasn’t enough, Bertuzzi suckered punched him from behind and drove him head first into the ice. This goes beyond the “code” in the NHL and beyond and players implied consent, therefore Bertuzzi has no real defense in a court of law.
Works Cited
* "Steve Moore vs.
Todd Bertuzzi – Will There Finally Be a Settlement? «." EveryJoe - Sports and Entertainment News. Web. 09 Dec. 2010. <http://everyjoe.com/sports/steve-moore-vs-todd-bertuzzi-will-there-finally-be-a-settlement/>. * Burnside, Scott. "Also Included Are Burke, Crawford - NHL - ESPN." ESPN: The Worldwide Leader In Sports. Web. 09 Dec. 2010. <http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?id=1993954>. * "Fighting in Ice Hockey." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 07 Dec. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighting_in_ice_hockey>. * Koerner, Brendan I. "Is Hockey Violence Illegal?" Slate Magazine. Web. 07 Dec. 2010.
<http://www.slate.com/id/2096977/>. * Larson, Aaron. "Intentional Torts and Personal Injury." Attorneys-USA - Personal Injury Law. Mar. 2005. Web. 08 Dec. 2010. <http://www.attorneys-usa.com/intentional/intentional.html>. * "Todd Bertuzzi." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 08 Dec. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Bertuzzi>.
before Colorado Avalanche center Steve Moore elbow checked him in the head. It was a very questionable hit in which the referee’s did not call a penalty and resulted in Naslund suffering a minor concussion and a bone chip in his elbow which knocked him out of the lineup for the next three games. Canucks Head coach Marc Crawford publicly criticized the no call, stating that the referees needed to show respect for the league’s leading scorer. The Vancouver general manager Brian Burke, also the league’s former chief disciplinarian, called the play a “headhunting hit”. Many Canucks players also voiced their opinions implying they intended to retaliate, in particular Brad May issuing a “bounty” on Moore’s head. Even with all the criticism by the Canucks officials, coaches and players, the league ruled that the referee was correct by judging the hit legal, bearing no punishment. In the next matchup between the two rivals the NHL’s commissioner and disciplinarian were both in attendance, showing that they were keeping a watchful eye on the two teams. No major incidents broke out. In the next meeting on March 8, 2004 is where Todd Bertuzzi came into play. Canucks forward Matt Cooke had already fought Moore in the first period. Fast forwarding to the third period with the Canucks trailing 8-2, Todd Bertuzzi started following Moore down the ice in an attempt to provoke a fistfight. When Moore showed no interest in fighting, Bertuzzi, behind Moore, grabbed his jersey and sucker punched him in the back of the head and drove his lifeless body into the ice head first. Not soon after a Canuck player jumped on top of the two soon followed by multiple Avalanche and Canucks players and it turned into a big pig pile melee. After lying on the ice for several minutes with a pool of blood beneath his face, Moore was removed on a stretcher. He suffered three fractured vertebrae in his neck, a grade three concussion, vertebral ligament damage, stretching of the brachial plexus nerves, and facial cuts, resulting in the end of his short hockey career. Two days after the incident Bertuzzi scheduled a press conference where he wept and apologized to Moore and his family, as well as to the commissioner, the Canucks organization, his teammates and the fans. Bertuzzi was suspended indefinitely by the NHL and lost approximately $850,000 in salary and endorsements. The Canucks were also fined $250,000 for “failure to prevent the atmosphere that may have led to the incident”. Bertuzzi ended up being suspended for 20 games, 7 of them being playoff games and was reinstated the next season by the NHL because they felt that he was genuinely remorseful and had suffered enough financially and emotionally. Legal implications of this incident will be visited later in this essay. In the wake of this incident, one might ask, can hockey violence be illegal in the sense of United States law? The answer is yes, because there is no law that specifically exempts athletes from being prosecuted for assaults that occur during competition. So theoretically its possible that a prosecutor could file charges every time a winger gets cross checked or sucker punched. However, there’s a gentleman’s agreement of sorts that exists between professional sports leagues and authorities. As long as the NHL, and other leagues, police themselves and give out fines and suspensions to offenders, prosecutors will generally leave it alone. This works for both parties because the NHL doesn’t want courts interfering with their business, and prosecutors know guilty verdicts would be few and far between. The first reason for that would be because many simple assault cases require the willingness of victims to press charges, and few pro hockey players want to carry their on-ice feuds into the courts. The second reason is implied consent, which is an accepted defense against assault charges, and it is clear NHL players realize that they imply their consent to their fare share of lumps and bruises. However, prosecutors have broad discretion to bring a charge against and athlete, and they’ll do just that if they feel that a violent incident went beyond the pale, especially if they feel they can prove that the victim did not consent to the level of violence he was subjected to. It has been more often that Canadian crown attorneys have prosecuted egregious cases of NHL violence because the sport’s integrity is so vital to the country’s national identity. For example in 1988 Minnesota North Stars forward Dino Ciccarelli pleaded guilty to assault charges in Toronto for slashing Maple Leafs defenseman Luke Richardson in the head which resulted in him being jailed for one day. And in 2000, Boston Bruins enforcer Marty McSorley was convicted of a similar crime in Vancouver and sentenced to 18 months probation. Prosecutors consider a variety of factors in deciding whether to pursue a criminal case, including: premeditation, the degree of viciousness, and whether there was intent to injure. So in the Todd Bertuzzi case, it is obvious that the incident went past the players’ implied consent, because one would not expect that they are going to get sucker punched from behind and their face piledriven into the ice resulting in a concussion, vertebral damage and the termination of his career. As far as Betuzzi goes, one might say that he acted in negligence. Negligence is defined as the failure to use reasonable care. The doing of something which a reasonably prudent person would not do, or the failure to do something which a reasonably prudent person would do under like circumstances. However, in Bertuzzi’s case his wrongdoings were classified as an intentional tort, or intentional harm tort. An intentional tort occurs when one intentionally causes another to suffer an injury. The important distinction is harm is not caused by accident or oversight but by intent. Now even though Bertuzzi was remorseful for his actions and wish it never happened, the facts of the case were that the Canucks players vowed they would take revenge on Steve Moore, and simply fighting him in the first period wasn’t enough, Bertuzzi suckered punched him from behind and drove him head first into the ice. This goes beyond the “code” in the NHL and beyond and players implied consent, therefore Bertuzzi has no real defense in a court of law.
Works Cited
* "Steve Moore vs.
Todd Bertuzzi – Will There Finally Be a Settlement? «." EveryJoe - Sports and Entertainment News. Web. 09 Dec. 2010. <http://everyjoe.com/sports/steve-moore-vs-todd-bertuzzi-will-there-finally-be-a-settlement/>. * Burnside, Scott. "Also Included Are Burke, Crawford - NHL - ESPN." ESPN: The Worldwide Leader In Sports. Web. 09 Dec. 2010. <http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?id=1993954>. * "Fighting in Ice Hockey." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 07 Dec. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighting_in_ice_hockey>. * Koerner, Brendan I. "Is Hockey Violence Illegal?" Slate Magazine. Web. 07 Dec. 2010.
<http://www.slate.com/id/2096977/>. * Larson, Aaron. "Intentional Torts and Personal Injury." Attorneys-USA - Personal Injury Law. Mar. 2005. Web. 08 Dec. 2010. <http://www.attorneys-usa.com/intentional/intentional.html>. * "Todd Bertuzzi." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 08 Dec. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Bertuzzi>.