It is hard to believe that it was a decade ago—March 8, 2004—in Vancouver, when Steve Moore’s life changed forever and his NHL career ended. It was the night, of course, when, after weeks of buildup and talk of retribution for his perceived dirty hit on Markus Naslund, Moore was attacked from behind by Canucks forward Todd Bertuzzi and driven face-first into the ice. “I had already thought, ‘We were up 8–2, why would it continue?’” Moore says. “I don’t think I was on the ice with him the whole game.”
He suffered three fractured neck vertebrae, multiple lacerations and a concussion. It was five months before the 25-year-old left a Denver hospital. In the wake of the incident, Bertuzzi was suspended by the NHL for what amounted to 20 games. He pled guilty to assault causing bodily harm and was given a conditional discharge. But he is still playing, now in Detroit.
Moore, meantime, suffered severe post-concussion issues. Court documents that came to light in 2013 included revelations that the Harvard grad with an IQ of 140 has struggled with academics since the attack and, according to a psychologist, wasn’t “capable of performing adequately in a wide range of managerial, executive and professional work.”
He tried to get himself back into NHL playing shape, but five years after the incident doctors refused to clear him to play and said they never would. To this day, while his health has improved, he says he still suffers from headaches, low energy and requires more sleep, among other symptoms. “I’m much better than I was,” he says. “I just manage those the best I can and focus on the positives. Obviously, it’s hard not to think about the most important thing that I can’t do, which is play. It’s been 10 years and I was expected to be playing now.”
Beyond that disappointment, there is also frustration. Along the way, Moore launched a multi-million-dollar civil suit against Bertuzzi and Orca Bay, which was then what the parent company of the Canucks was named, but it has incurred multiple delays. A new date has been set for Sept. 8. “I’ve tried every day for this to be over and yet here we are 10 years later, we’re not even at trial,” he says. “I think that may indicate to some people what has been going on.”
Moore believes the legal proceedings have purposely been delayed to try to break him mentally and financially. While he is obviously looking for a legal settlement, he is also looking for closure. “To lose your whole career in your rookie year, you have no choice but to try to recover as much as you can,” says Moore. “You can’t recover the friendships, the memories, the experience of playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Stanley Cup you could have won. You can’t recover any of those things, bringing family and friends to games… or the kids you would have liked to have brought along and inspired.”
