First Moore, Now Crawford

Apparently former Vancouver Canuck forward Todd Bertuzzi wasn’t satisfied with his on-ice, career-ending, blindside attack on Steve Moore that happened in 2004. On Friday he blind-sided his then coach Marc Crawford by petitioning an Ontario court and Moore to add the former Vancouver coach as a co-defendant in the ongoing 38 million dollar civil lawsuit — to which Moore and the court accepted, due to evidence which was heard in a sworn affidavit last summer. Last summer evidence emerged that Crawford had stated in the locker room that Moore must “pay the price” for his open-ice hit on Bertuzzi’s team-mate Markus Naslund. The hit resulted in a concussion to the Vancouver captain, but was deemed by the NHL to be a clean hit.

Okay, blindsided may be a stretch as it was expected by most whom have followed this case, but it was a gutless move any way you slice it. It doesn’t surprise me one bit that someone as classless as Bertuzzi would attempt to drag his former coach under the bus with him, with a 38 million dollar lawsuit behind the wheel of said bus. It’s incredible how quickly the “all for one, one for all” attitude that athletes and teams pride themselves in goes flying out the window when money is on the line.

It may be worthwhile to point out that although Crawford is now officially a defendant in the lawsuit alongside Bertuzzi (and thus on the hook for a percentage of a potential settlement) it’s quite possible that the judge hearing the case could deem that Crawford bears no responsibility for what happened while Bertuzzi does — and I hope that’s how this unfolds.

At what point is a player solely responsible for his own actions? This analogous to the mantra of “If someone tells you to jump off a bridge, would you?”, excecpt in much more vague terms. Crawford’s defense to this claim is simple — “pay the price” does not mean blindside him and drive his face into the ice. It’s too ambiguous. Bertizzi’s claim? If he didn’t listen to his coach, he is hurting his chances of future employment as he will be labeled as a player who doesn’t follow orders from his superiors. What about Moore’s chances for future employment, you self-centered pompous asshole? I’m sure the entire 2007-2008 Los Angeles Kings roster can provide enough proof that nobody listens to Crawford anyway.

The sad part is I think Bertuzzi knows he’s streching with this move, but will roll the dice regardless because at the very least it slows the entire judicial process down. Instead of determining if Bertuzzi is in fact guilty (which is pretty much a foregone conclusion at this point, due to the criminal conviction) and subsequently determining a monetary value to be payed to Moore, the court must now first determine if Crawford is to bear some of the responsibility. As if this case hasn’t been dragged out long enough.

There are no real winners in this case. Just a bunch of shady characters throwing the blame at each other like a drug dealer cutting a deal with prosecutors, folding like a pup-tent on his partners in crime for a reduced sentence. Okay, I may have watched “Blow” recently — but that’s exactly what this is. It’s pathetic and disgusting, and it’s no surprise that the only person who’s acted like an adult through all of this is Moore.

Remparts/Sagueneens Brawl

There was an ugly incident involving the Quebec Remparts and Chicoutimi Sagueneens on Saturday night, and another Roy was at the center of it all. Son of Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy, Jon Roy, is a goaltender for the Quebec Remparts, which Patrick Roy happens to coach. Patrick Roy is also co-owner, vice-president and general manager of the franchise.

The Remparts were losing 7-1 during the second period of game two of their first round tilt. It’s not uncommon for shit to hit the fan in a one-sided game, especially in the CHL. On top of that, the rivalry between these two teams, both on and off the ice, is no secret to fans of the QMJHL. In January of 2007, Chicoutimi fans reportedly blocked Quebec players from boarding their bus after a game. While attempting to disperse the crowd, Patrick Roy threw a punch at one agitated fan. Charges were initially filed against Roy, but subsequently dropped after an apology.

With Saturday’s game out of hand late in the second period, a brawl broke out the in Remparts zone following a collision between two players. With all 10 skaters squaring off, I can only assume adrenaline and the desire to spark his team got the better of Jon Roy. Goalie fights are nothing new to hockey, with Patrick being involved in two legendary battles against the Red Wings in the midst of one of the greatest hockey rivalries in modern hockey history. Jon Roy proceeded to skate towards Chicoutimi goaltender Bobby Nadeau. A referee initially held him up around centre ice, but Roy broke free and removed his helmet, trapper, and blocker in preparation to fight. He skated the remaining distance of this ice and the following occured.

On several hockey forums I frequent people have been lambasting Jon for attacking an unwilling participant, and even going as far as to suggest permanently banning both Patrick and Jon from the QMJHL, because reportedly father Patrick ordered his son to attack the other goaltender. Ridiculous!

Put yourself in Nadeau’s crease. What was he thinking?! A full out line-brawl was occurring, and you’re going to sit in your crease, lean up against the net, and do nothing all while the opposing goaltender removes his equipment and proceeds to barrel down the length of the ice?! Did he think that Roy was coming over to talk politics? Did Nadeau think that he was a chameleon? Did he think that if he stood still long enough Roy wouldn’t be able to see him?  If you don’t want to fight, fine – at least make an attempt to defend yourself and hold on to the other fighter’s sweater in order to prevent him from unleashing a dozen or so clean punches.

Roy had no idea that Nadeau wasn’t going to fight back, much less refuse to even defend himself. The only thing that Roy did that was slightly reprehensible was to throw punches at Nadeau while he was on the ice, however cheap-shots like that happen all the time, especially throughout the CHL. That doesn’t justify Roy’s actions, but I’ve attended OHL games and witnessed two players attack one downed player in the midst of a brawl. I’ve seen players take 5 or more punches while on the ice – while the refs do nothing. I’ve seen non-fighters forced to fight after a teammate delivered a hard, but legitimate body-check.

People often forget that these are, for the most part, 16-18 year old kids. For most of them, junior hockey is the pinnacle of their hockey career. Others sit precariously on a fence, not knowing if they will strike it rich and live out their dream of playing in the NHL, or fizzle in the AHL and subsequently live a life of normalcy much like the rest of us. Most of these kids play on the edge, and the pressure they face from fans as well as each other is enormous, and every now and then these kids will crack under that pressure, leading them to cross the line.

More importantly, the only reason this incident has become such a hot topic amongst hockey fans is because of the name on the back of his sweater. Every other CHL brawl goes unnoticed to those not in the arena, yet this incident headlined the Sunday version of the Global National News. If it was any other CHL goalie fans wouldn’t even care, much less the media.