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Marc Crawford — the former Vancouver Canucks head coach who was behind the bench during Todd Bertuzzi's infamous attack on Colorado Avalanche forward Steve Moore in a game on March 8, 2004 — has denied he is in any way responsible for Bertuzzi's actions that day.
In a third-party statement of defence filed with the Ontario Superior Court last month, Crawford denied he urged Bertuzzi or any of his other players to make Moore "pay the price" for a hit he had put on Canucks captain Markus Naslund in a previous game between the two NHL teams.
Last March, Bertuzzi sought to have Crawford's name added to the multimillion-dollar lawsuit brought by Moore against Bertuzzi in the aftermath of the incident in which Moore suffered three fractured vertebrae in his neck, a concussion and facial cuts — injuries that effectively ended his playing career.
Moore is seeking $38-million in damages in an amended statement of claim against Bertuzzi and his employer at the time, the Canucks.
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The Canucks' parent company, Orca Bay Hockey Limited Partnership, is also named in the action.
Bertuzzi has claimed his actions were inspired by Crawford's comment that Moore "pay the price" for the hit on Naslund, and that his former coach "should have known that this was likely to result in an injury."
However, in his response, Crawford argued Moore was "not singled out as a player to be targeted for injury" and that he "gave no direction to the players in general and to Bertuzzi in particular, to retaliate for the injury to Naslund, or to engage in any conduct outside the rules against Moore."
On the contrary, Crawford said, his players were "expressly instructed to execute a game plan which involved, among other things, maintaining their composure."
Should Bertuzzi persuade the court to add Crawford's name to the lawsuit, it could put Crawford on the hook to pay part of any judgment if a ruling was ultimately made in Moore's favour.
Videotape of the 2004 incident in Vancouver shows Bertuzzi skating up the ice, shouting at Moore. When Moore did not respond, Bertuzzi jumped him from behind with a punch to the head and then fell on top of him.
Bertuzzi was suspended indefinitely by the NHL and reinstated after a 17-month absence, which also included the 2004-05 lockout. Bertuzzi also pleaded guilty to criminal charges in British Columbia and was sentenced to probation and 80 hours of community service.
After having his contract bought out by the Anaheim Ducks last June, Bertuzzi signed a one-year, $1.95-million (U.S.) contract to play for the Calgary Flames this coming season.
Crawford, meanwhile, was fired by the Los Angeles Kings after the 2007-08 season and will work as a television analyst for the coming NHL season.
In his statement of defence, Crawford asserted Bertuzzi "admitted sole responsibility for his actions by, and in, his guilty plea to the criminal assault charge against him" and thus it would be "factually unfounded and legally impermissible for Bertuzzi to now seek to transfer any of the responsibility for his actions" to Crawford.
Crawford sought to have the claim against him dismissed and asked that he be awarded "substantial indemnity costs in his favour."
In the document filed on his behalf by the law firm Goodmans LLP, Crawford also suggested Bertuzzi was not exhibiting any "aggressive behaviour" in the game in question and had in fact been playing "relatively lethargic and complacent … prior to the attack."
As a result, Crawford concluded Bertuzzi was not behaving in a manner that should have caused him "to be reasonably concerned that he might engage in criminal behaviour."
According to Crawford's statement, Bertuzzi had been on the ice to kill a penalty just before the incident and had been called off the ice from the bench after missing a shift change. It was then that Bertuzzi "suddenly and without warning" skated back in the direction of Moore, the document alleges.
"This was not done under any specific or general direction from Crawford, was a direct disobedience of the instruction that Bertuzzi had been given from the bench to get off the ice, and was a violation of Bertuzzi's duties which Crawford could not be expected to have reasonably anticipated, let alone controlled."
