30 Dirty Players in 30 Days. The Colorado Avalanche.

Posted Friday, October 8. 2010 by Warren Baker
Filed under 30 Dirty Players in 30 Days, Colorado Avalanche

Comments (2)

According to me, Steve Moore is a dirty player.

There I said it. I'm not supposed to because he was the victim of one of the worst cheap shots in hockey history. I'm not supposed to because it is Todd Bertuzzi, Marc Crawford and Brad May who are the bad guys in the Steve Moore saga.

But let's forget about Bertuzzi for a moment. Imagine that incident never happened and take Moore's hit on Naslund on it's own. Check out the video.

During my research for the Dirty Player series I've viewed countless cheapshots and crosschecks. Steve Moore's hit on Marcus Naslund looks no different than any of the others. You can argue that Naslund moved into a bad position, you can argue that Moore didn't mean to hurt him, but at the end of the day it was clearly an unneccessary hit and it was made to the head.

What stood out to me was Moore's attitude afterwards. Usually when these cheap shots occur, I find an accompanying clip that shows the guilty player being interviewed in the dressing room. He somberly says something like "What I did was wrong", or "I should have done things differently". However, Moore did not take responsibility for what happened to Naslund nor did he apologize for his actions (accidental or not). According to this CBC sports article when asked about the hit, Moore said that he was simply finishing his check.

"(It was) just a clean bodycheck with the shoulder"

Even 3 years later, he takes no responsibility for the hit on Naslund.

"I don't think I can possibly regret that hit. I mean, that's a clean hit, the ref said it was a clean hit, the NHL reviewed it and said it was a clean hit," Moore told CBC News.

Maybe it was legal, but it was not clean. Would it have been his last legal cheap shot? Well, thanks to Todd Bertuzzi, we will never know what kind of player Steve Moore would have been. However, if his hit on Marcus Naslund and his attitude afterward is any indication, he could have been one of Colorado's dirtiest players.

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Incredulous Jim August 09, 2009 at 11:32 am

Steve Moore dirty? And I guess Mother Teresa is a thug? (Apparently her handshake was so firm it once bought the Pope to his knee’s in pain).

Watch the video til the cows come home, it was a collision between two clean players that resembles many hits every game. (Naslund has a higher penalty per game stat than Moore). And Bertuzzi’s attack was motivated by the Canucks getting the crap beat out of them in an important game, not getting even for this hit.

Want a real dirty player on Colorado? Watch some Utube on Patrick Roy. Even in retirement he does not want to recognize that hockey is best served by players with “soft hands”, not hard and ready fists.

Warren Baker October 12, 2010 at 12:56 pm

There are many types of dirty players. Some are obvious, in-you-face offenders. Others play legally, but don’t play with respect. I don’t really know what kind of player Moore was, but that hit – while legal at the time – was reckless, unnecessary and was born out of disrespect of the other player.

And the NHL and players agree. The recent “headshot” rule has now made this sort of hit illegal after coming to the conclusion that this sort of play is reckless and is causing serious injuries. Just because the conclusion came a few years late, doesn’t make the hit any cleaner.

Don’t get me wrong. I doubt Moore would have been a dirty player if he had been given the chance to finish his career. The article was mostly aimed at the style of hit and the attitude towards dangerous but “legal” hits.

And I absolutely agree with your point about the game – I watched that game and I am sure the incident wouldn’t have happened if the Canucks weren’t losing. It was an ugly, ugly incident to be sure.

Perhaps my only regret about my Dirty Player feature is that I couldn’t find a way to work in Mark Crawford!

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