Bertuzzi: "The Devil Made Me Do It!"

by Jes

This Steve Moore story refuses to die, and now we are getting some juicy tidbits about Marc Crawford's involvement in the whole affair.

There have always been rumours that Marc Crawford instructed Todd Bertuzzi to make the hit on Moore, but this was pure speculation, and nothing has ever been proven.

Now, we learn that Bertuzzi testified, under oath, that Crawford did, indeed, tell him to layeth the smacketh down on the yappy ex-Avalanche forward.

A statement of claim filed in Ontario court by Moore's lawyer and obtained by CBC alleges that Crawford pointed to Moore's name and number on a board in the Canucks dressing room during the second intermission of that game and said ". . . (Moore) must pay the price."

In an accompanying document, Moore's lawyer claims Crawford's statement was disclosed by Bertuzzi while under oath, and by Canucks GM Dave Nonis

A few thoughts that are oozing out of my thick skull right about now

1. Where was Bertuzzi's brain in all of this? He didn't HAVE to do anything, and could have easily just laid a solid bodycheck, or told Moore a few choice mama jokes, rather than attack him from behind. Obviously, Bertuzzi made the conscious decision to attack Moore, and didn't exactly step back and say "Hey, wait a minute ... "

2. If the rumours are true, this could explain why Bertuzzi could do no wrong in Crawford's eyes. Remember Bertuzzi's last season with the Canucks, when the grumpy bear simply cruised around and didn't break a sweat? While Crawford chewed out most any other play for not playing hellbent-hard, Bertuzzi simply did not get taken to task. If Crawford felt some sort of guilt or responsibility for the trouble Bertuzzi got in, he probably felt that he couldn't criticize his star winger for blowing his umpteenth defensive assignment.

3. Crawford's Kings are doing awful, and his coaching, to me, hasn't been very good the past few years. As more details come out about this case, Crawford could easily lose his job, and have loads of trouble finding another. I won't say he's be blacklisted, but I'm sure he wouldn't get a lot of calls for job interviews.

4. In that regard, if Crawford is fired as coach of the Kings, would CBC really want him back? Crawford was great with the CBC as an analyst, but I can't see the 'ceeb' wanting to put up with the backlash for hiring 'the guy who ordered the hit'