Avalanche 9 – Canucks 2 (WTF?)

I was so looking forward to last night’s game and after watching what transpired I wished I had never seen it. It was a horrific game in so many ways. What a disgusting display. The only bright spot of the night was Trevor Linden passing Stan Smyl for the all time scoring record by a player in a Canucks uniform with assists on the only two Canucks goals. The ever humble Linden received two standing ovations for reaching the milestone. Too bad it had to come during such an otherwise pathetic game.

After a first period that saw 5 (yes five) goals in total. The first four came on Dan Cloutier on the first 10 shots of the game and within 2 minutes! This, of course, set records of the notorious variety. After Hedberg came into tend goal he didn’t fare much better allowing a goal after only two shots.

Things had already gone awry fight-wise at that point as the frustrated Canucks began settling scores and generally being poor sports. At 8:41 of the third period one of the the most disgusting things I have ever seen during a hockey game took place. Todd Bertuzzi, who I used to cheer for, made perhaps the biggest mistake of his career. I truly felt sick watching replay after replay of what took place. Steve Moore, who had already answered the bell with Cooke (and won) for his questionable hit on Naslund weeks ago, was punched from behind by Bertuzzi. Moore, who was clearly unconscious before he hit the deck, had big Bertuzzi ride him all the way down driving his head hard into the ice face first. Making it worse were other players, Avalanche and Canucks, piling on top of the other two players. The gore was horrific. Moore did not move for 10 minutes while he received medical attention. He was taken by ambulance to Vancouver General Hospital.

It was stated on the radio that he still didn’t know who he was or where he was upon arriving at the hospital. In breaking news right now on Sportsnet’s TV news it appears that Moore has fractures of his C3 and C4 vertebrae and a broken jaw. Not good. The Broken jaw probably came from the original hit and the spinal injuries as a result of the fall to the ice.

And now the VPD is getting involved.

Canucks GM Brian Burke says Moore is going to be okay, but we’re still waiting to hear from the Avalanche. If the above is true I’m not sure what Brian Burke is smoking.

Nor are we clear on what will happen to Todd Bertuzzi, as of last night he has been suspended indefinitely (and deservedly so) pending investigation by the league. As the hit was most likely premeditated he may be suspended for the rest of the season, which is 13 games, and possibly into the first round of the play-offs.

If Bertuzzi were completely banned from the game I wouldn’t be sad. Hitting someone from behind like he did was wrong, no matter how you slice it. Whether or not Bertuzzi intended to injure Moore in the way he did, he still did and will have to suffer consequences as a result. His actions had nothing to do with bolstering his team even though in his neanderthal brain he may believe that. He may have, with one punch, dashed the hopes of his teammates and fans alike ruining any chance of the Canucks going anywhere in the play-offs. How can that help morale in their dressing room and on the ice. The Canucks will probably be booed off the ice no matter where they go for the while.

It is a dark day for Canucks fans like myself. Who cares that the team lost last night? It’s the other stuff that happened that makes me feel sick to my stomach. Just bad…

I expect the usual comments from the Leafs and Red Wings fans. Along with your usual stuff, why not try to contribute to the discussion it would be interesting to hear what other hockey fans have to say.