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Bettman, Daly confirm ‘willingness to participate’ in Bertuzzi-Moore trial

Gary Bettman, Bill Daly

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, right, and deputy commissioner Bill Daly and speak to reporters on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012, in New York. The NHL has rejected the players’ latest offer for a labor deal and negotiations have broken off at least until the weekend. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

AP

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly are prepared to testify in September’s Steve Moore-Todd Bertuzzi trial, the Globe and Mail reports.

In an email to the Globe, Daly said he and Bettman “have indicated a willingness to participate as required.” This comes after Moore’s lawyer, Tim Danson, had originally included Bettman and Daly in motion compelling them to testify -- along with former Vancouver Canucks owner John McCaw Jr.

All three had previously declined requests to come to the trial.

With this latest development, Bettman and Daly have been removed from the motion; the Globe reports Danson will still argue in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Thursday to force McCaw to testify.

Here’s more, from the Globe:

Danson wants to question Bettman and Daly about several matters, including their refusal to pay a $220,000 (U.S.) disability payment from the league unless Moore drops his lawsuit against Bertuzzi and the Canucks. Court documents released Tuesday showed that Moore asked Bettman and Daly in 2008 to waive the standard clause in the NHL’s disability insurance agreement with the players that says claimants must drop any litigation against the league or its teams in order to receive the payment. Bettman and Daly declined to do so.

“The collectively bargained disability insurance payment is expressly conditioned on the player signing a release,” Daly said in an e-mail message. “That is a routine provision and is done for obvious reasons including to avoid the potential of double recovery for a single incident or disability.”

Moore is seeking more than $38-million in his lawsuit against Bertuzzi. McCaw sold the Canucks to the Aquilini family in 2007, but agreed to pay half of any judgment the court awards in Moore’s favor against the Canucks.

The civil suit is set to begin on Sept. 8, 2014. It’s a date that’s been a long time in the making — last July, an original Sept. 24, 2012 date was pushed to January 2013, only for that date to be pushed again when Danson learned of a “secret deal” between Bertuzzi and McCaw’s Orca Bay, the former Canucks ownership group.

Here’s more, from CBC:

Bertuzzi and Orca Bay lost an appeal to keep secret the details of an agreement that shares costs between them should they lose the lawsuit brought against them by Moore.

Moore’s lawyer, Tim Danson, learned of the agreement earlier in 2012 and won a decision to have it released to him, but not for public disclosure.

Moore, a member of the Colorado Avalanche at the time of the incident, suffered three fractured vertebrae and a concussion in the attack, and never played another NHL game.

In February of 2012, Bertuzzi signed a two-year, $4.15 million contract extension with the Detroit Red Wings, a deal that bumped his career earnings to nearly $38 million.