Former Avalanche forward Steve Moore has filed a lawsuit in Ontario Superior Court against Vancouver Canucks winger Todd Bertuzzi.
Moore and his parents, Jack and Anna Moore of Thornhill, Ontario, are asking for $19.5 million in damages in connection with Bertuzzi’s March 8, 2004, attack on Moore in a game at Vancouver.
Defendants are Bertuzzi, the Canucks and the company that owns the NHL franchise – Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment.
Moore’s lawsuit in Denver District Court against the same defendants, plus Canucks coach Marc Crawford, Avalanche winger Brad May, who was with the Canucks in 2004, and former Vancouver general manager Brian Burke, was dismissed last fall.
Lee Foreman, the attorney who handled Moore’s previous lawsuit in Colorado, Wednesday said Moore’s appeal of the dismissal of the Denver case still is pending in the Colorado Court of Appeals.
“The results of the appeal are of course uncertain, and nobody wanted to let the time limits lapse in Canada,” Foreman said. “Where a trial will ultimately occur remains to be decided.”
The Canadian filing’s timing was designed to beat a two-year limitation on filing a lawsuit under Canadian law. A Feb. 16 cutoff date is based on the premise that the events that culminated with the March 8, 2004, attack in Vancouver, actually began in a Feb. 16, 2004, game at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
On March 8, 2004, Moore suffered fractured neck vertebrae, a concussion and facial lacerations when Bertuzzi attacked him from behind. Moore has not played in the NHL since. His Ontario case seeks loss of income damages of $15 million, punitive damages of $2 million and aggravated damages of $1 million. In addition, Moore’s parents are asking for damages of $1.5 million in conjunction with Ontario’s Family Law Act because they were watching the game on television in the Toronto area.
Bertuzzi is playing for Canada in the Olympics at Turin.
