After KO of Moore, Bertuzzi decision due

Former Harvard forward Steve Moore remained in a Vancouver, British Columbia, hospital yesterday, following surgery the day before on his broken neck, and his assailant, 245-pound Vancouver power forward Todd Bertuzzi, will learn today how long the National Hockey League will suspend him for his attack on the ex-Crimson captain.

"I seem to have a stricter view of what should happen," said Brett Nowak, a rookie with the Providence Bruins who played with Moore for two years at Harvard. "It is almost personal to me, because I know Steve, but I think it should be pretty severe. I'm no expert on cases like this before, or anything, but I'd say [Bertuzzi] should be suspended for at least the rest of this season, and probably for a year."

The 29-year-old Bertuzzi, who brutally pounded Moore to the ice Monday night in the latter stages of Colorado's 9-2 thumping of the Canucks, had his hearing early yesterday afternoon before Colin Campbell, the NHL's chief disciplinarian, in Toronto. Bertuzzi, under investigation by Vancouver police for the incident at General Motors Place, was accompanied by Vancouver general manager Brian Burke as well as members of the NHL Players Association.

According to Gary Meagher, the league's vice president of public relations, Campbell will render his decision at 9 a.m. today. It's likely the suspension will rival, if not surpass, the one-year ban handed ex-Bruins defenseman Marty McSorley for his stick-to-the-head attack on then-Canuck Donald Brashear in February 2000. McSorley never played in the NHL again, eschewing his opportunity to appeal to commissioner Gary Bettman for reinstatement a year later, and is now the head coach of the American Hockey League's Springfield Falcons.

Bertuzzi read a statement before the Canucks played the Minnesota Wild last night and offered a tearful apology to Moore. "These comments are for Steve," said Bertuzzi, who didn't take any questions. "Steve, I just want to apologize for what happened out there. I had no intention of hurting you. I feel awful for what transpired."

Moore, a 25-year-old rookie center, did not suffer any paralysis in the attack, which left him with two cracked vertebrae in his neck. In a few days, according to reports, he is expected to be transferred to Craig Hospital in Denver, where he will be further examined by neurosurgeons. He will not play again this season.

Skating up ice while being hectored from behind by Bertuzzi, a fearsome checker and prolific scorer, Moore appeared to be knocked cold on his feet from a Bertuzzi sucker punch to the side of his face. As he crumpled to the ice, Moore, some 40 pounds lighter than Bertuzzi, was left face-first on the ice, blood puddling around him from facial lacerations.

"If that's what the game of hockey is all about . . . I don't know," said Bill Cleary, Harvard's former athletic director and hockey coach, reached late yesterday afternoon. "You know, I'm taking my young grandson right now to play in a hockey game and I ask myself, `Do I want him to get involved with this sport?' After seeing something like that, I have to think there are parents and grandparents everywhere asking themselves that today." According to Cleary, the 6-foot-2-inch Moore, a 2001 Crimson graduate, was a hard-working, hard-playing forward his four years at Harvard, where he "always minded his business on the ice -- you never saw any of the chintzy stuff."

Nowak always thought of Moore as hockey's Walter Payton, delivering stiff and clean checks on the ice with the strength of the NFL Hall of Famer.

"He would just run over guys," recalled Nowak. "I've never seen anyone hit more when they were in possession of the puck. He's a clean player, strong on his skates, with a great shot. I would never say he was a dirty player."

Bertuzzi is widely believed to have been retaliating for a hit that Moore delivered to Vancouver star Markus Naslund Feb. 16, an unpenalized hit that sidelined the Canucks' star forward for three games with a concussion. If so, his frontier justice now stands to leave him standing out of the game for some time.

"Nothing would justify it," said Nowak. "I saw Steve's hit on Naslund, and that was nothing compared to this. It's sort of standard hockey conduct that you challenge a guy, one-on-one, and face-to-face, and Steve got in a fight earlier in the game that night [Monday] -- he was challenged, fought, and paid the price. But what [Bertuzzi] did was just ugly."

In Bertuzzi's three-minute address, in which he was accompanied by his wife, Julie, his agent, Pat Morris, and members of Canucks management, the All-Star added, "To the game of hockey and the fans of Vancouver, for the kids that watch this game, I am truly sorry. I don't play the game that way. I'm not a mean-spirited person and I'm sorry." Before McSorley's one-year suspension, the longest suspension handed out for such on-ice muggings was 21 games, received by Washington's Dale Hunter in 1993 for his hit from behind on Islander Pierre Turgeon in a playoff game. Legendary Bruins defenseman Eddie Shore was tossed for 16 games for poleaxing Toronto's Ace Bailey with his stick in 1933.

"They get this mentality in their heads that it's toughness," said Cleary. "Well, I don't call hitting a guy from behind toughness. Let's get back to seeing the skill in the game. They're trying to sell the sport, and all their damn rinks are empty -- well, is this going to help them? What does any of this have to do with the game of hockey? It's just so far away from the beauty and the skill factors of a great game. I mean, I saw Henri Richard play, and I wonder if he could play now. He probably wouldn't be big enough, or tough enough."

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.