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 because it's August 8th and we're talking about Colorado. Vancouver will have it's day later in the month. Let's have a look at the incident that started the mess in the first place. 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.
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.
