Bertuzzi-Moore court documents shed light on ex-NHL player
Posted: Jan 15th, 2013, 3:21 am
Rick Westhead
Staff Reporter
Ever since his NHL career was cut short in March 2004, Steve Moore’s life has been cloaked in secrecy, his family and lawyer shielding him from public scrutiny.
New court documents obtained by the Star before Moore’s $60 million lawsuit against Todd Bertuzzi begins in Ontario Superior Court offer a window into Moore’s current day-to-day struggles with memory and focus, and the 34-year-old’s future prospects for employment.
The trial, which will be decided by six jurors, was scheduled to begin Jan. 28 but has been delayed until April because of several procedural appeals.
The court hearing could last several months.
It’s unclear whether any current or former NHL employees will cooperate with Moore’s lawyer Tim Danson. In court filings Danson has discussed his frustrations over hockey’s “code,” an unspoken agreement by players not to publicly discuss the unseemly side of the game.
Several current and former Vancouver Canucks players, including Markus Naslund and Henrik and Daniel Sedin, have refused to testify on behalf of Moore, a source told the Star. Naslund and the Sedins could provide details about what was said in the Canucks locker room before Bertuzzi’s attack.
“The hockey club, its parent company and its legal representation will refrain from any public comment that pertains to an issue before the courts,” said Ben Brown, a Canucks spokesperson.
Danson declined to comment. Bertuzzi’s lawyer Geoff Adair couldn’t be reached.
During a March 8, 2004 game between the Canucks and Colorado Avalanche, Bertuzzi, then playing for Vancouver, struck Moore from behind. He punched him in the side of the head and then drove his head into the ice. After lying in a pool of blood for several minutes, Moore was removed on a stretcher.
Moore, then 25, suffered three broken vertebrae and deep facial cuts. His NHL career was over. Danson has said he’s suffered from concussion-related symptoms ever since, hindering his ability to find work outside hockey.
While Moore has asked for $60 million, roughly as much money as Bertuzzi has made in his NHL career, a jury can award as much money as it sees fit based on the evidence presented to the court.
In exchange for Bertuzzi dropping a cross-claim lawsuit against the Canucks, the team signed a secret agreement with the power forward agreeing to cover some percentage of his liability.
The recently filed court documents highlight the mental troubles Moore’s lawyers say he has struggled with since his career-ending injury and reveal details about his efforts to take an admissions test in 2010 for graduate school.
Moore’s family members said he “can no longer study effectively on his own. . . . He loses focus and is inaccurate and forgetful,” the documents say. “His communication skills, the ability to quickly and clearly follow more complex conversations, for example, are compromised. He has difficulties establishing priorities and making decisions. . . . His judgment is questionable.”
Moore, who has an IQ of about 140, twice wrote the GMAT exam, taken by those hoping to attend graduate school, the documents say. During his first attempt, on March 3, 2010, he scored in the 68th percentile, which means he scored higher than 68 per cent of those who took the test during the previous three years.
On his second attempt, on April 5, 2010, Moore scored in the 88th percentile.
Moore was allowed 50 per cent more time, an extra break, earplugs and an adjustable chair when he took the tests.
The documents cite Kevin Murphy, a psychologist who examined Moore.
Murphy concludes Moore had “highly superior cognitive abilities” before his injury, but since Bertuzzi’s attack “does not exhibit the ability to plan, make decisions, set priorities, and to multi-task and is not capable of performing adequately in a wide range of managerial, executive, and professional work.
“Moore’s current job prospects are restricted to work that is more routine, less autonomous, less opportune for advancement, and significantly less remunerative than his former prospects.”
A company called HR Squared consultants was hired by Moore’s lawyer to provide an expert opinion of Mr. Moore’s post-hockey lost income.
The company concluded Moore before his injuries had the chance to work as an investment banker, portfolio manager, high-net-worth adviser, salesperson or perhaps a research analyst. But his “shortcomings” following his injury “would make it difficult for him to perform the job successfully.
“In sum: While it is possible that Steve Moore could obtain employment as a hedge fund marketer, there is a very low probability that he would have been able to keep the job,” the court filings say.
http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/nh ... -struggles
Staff Reporter
Ever since his NHL career was cut short in March 2004, Steve Moore’s life has been cloaked in secrecy, his family and lawyer shielding him from public scrutiny.
New court documents obtained by the Star before Moore’s $60 million lawsuit against Todd Bertuzzi begins in Ontario Superior Court offer a window into Moore’s current day-to-day struggles with memory and focus, and the 34-year-old’s future prospects for employment.
The trial, which will be decided by six jurors, was scheduled to begin Jan. 28 but has been delayed until April because of several procedural appeals.
The court hearing could last several months.
It’s unclear whether any current or former NHL employees will cooperate with Moore’s lawyer Tim Danson. In court filings Danson has discussed his frustrations over hockey’s “code,” an unspoken agreement by players not to publicly discuss the unseemly side of the game.
Several current and former Vancouver Canucks players, including Markus Naslund and Henrik and Daniel Sedin, have refused to testify on behalf of Moore, a source told the Star. Naslund and the Sedins could provide details about what was said in the Canucks locker room before Bertuzzi’s attack.
“The hockey club, its parent company and its legal representation will refrain from any public comment that pertains to an issue before the courts,” said Ben Brown, a Canucks spokesperson.
Danson declined to comment. Bertuzzi’s lawyer Geoff Adair couldn’t be reached.
During a March 8, 2004 game between the Canucks and Colorado Avalanche, Bertuzzi, then playing for Vancouver, struck Moore from behind. He punched him in the side of the head and then drove his head into the ice. After lying in a pool of blood for several minutes, Moore was removed on a stretcher.
Moore, then 25, suffered three broken vertebrae and deep facial cuts. His NHL career was over. Danson has said he’s suffered from concussion-related symptoms ever since, hindering his ability to find work outside hockey.
While Moore has asked for $60 million, roughly as much money as Bertuzzi has made in his NHL career, a jury can award as much money as it sees fit based on the evidence presented to the court.
In exchange for Bertuzzi dropping a cross-claim lawsuit against the Canucks, the team signed a secret agreement with the power forward agreeing to cover some percentage of his liability.
The recently filed court documents highlight the mental troubles Moore’s lawyers say he has struggled with since his career-ending injury and reveal details about his efforts to take an admissions test in 2010 for graduate school.
Moore’s family members said he “can no longer study effectively on his own. . . . He loses focus and is inaccurate and forgetful,” the documents say. “His communication skills, the ability to quickly and clearly follow more complex conversations, for example, are compromised. He has difficulties establishing priorities and making decisions. . . . His judgment is questionable.”
Moore, who has an IQ of about 140, twice wrote the GMAT exam, taken by those hoping to attend graduate school, the documents say. During his first attempt, on March 3, 2010, he scored in the 68th percentile, which means he scored higher than 68 per cent of those who took the test during the previous three years.
On his second attempt, on April 5, 2010, Moore scored in the 88th percentile.
Moore was allowed 50 per cent more time, an extra break, earplugs and an adjustable chair when he took the tests.
The documents cite Kevin Murphy, a psychologist who examined Moore.
Murphy concludes Moore had “highly superior cognitive abilities” before his injury, but since Bertuzzi’s attack “does not exhibit the ability to plan, make decisions, set priorities, and to multi-task and is not capable of performing adequately in a wide range of managerial, executive, and professional work.
“Moore’s current job prospects are restricted to work that is more routine, less autonomous, less opportune for advancement, and significantly less remunerative than his former prospects.”
A company called HR Squared consultants was hired by Moore’s lawyer to provide an expert opinion of Mr. Moore’s post-hockey lost income.
The company concluded Moore before his injuries had the chance to work as an investment banker, portfolio manager, high-net-worth adviser, salesperson or perhaps a research analyst. But his “shortcomings” following his injury “would make it difficult for him to perform the job successfully.
“In sum: While it is possible that Steve Moore could obtain employment as a hedge fund marketer, there is a very low probability that he would have been able to keep the job,” the court filings say.
http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/nh ... -struggles