ABOUT STEVE > Biography
EARLY LIFE
Steve Moore (born Sept 22, 1978 in Windsor, Ontario) grew up in Thornhill, Ontario, a hotbed of hockey (Steven Stamkos, PK Subban, Jeff Skinner and Mike Cammalleri all hail from the 905 area code) where he caught the hockey bug extremely early in life. Skating from the age of 2 1/2, he spent most of his early years on the local ponds and rinks with his two brothers, Mark and Dom. HIGH SCHOOL In 1992, Steve was fortunate to receive a financial aid bursary to attend St. Michael's College School, an all-boys Catholic secondary school with a strong hockey tradition (over 150 SMC players have gone on to NHL careers, including Jason Spezza, Tyler Seguin, Andrew Cogliano and Eric Lindros), and commuted by bus, subway and streetcar the hour each way to attend this downtown Toronto school. In his final two years he played Tier II Junior hockey for the Thornhill Islanders. COLLEGE In 1997, Steve enrolled at Harvard University, again on financial aid, where he joined his older brother Mark on the hockey team, and where younger brother Dom would also eventually attend. In 1998 Steve was invited to attend camp for the Canadian National Hockey Team and made the team, but opted to return to school. Playing hockey all four years at Harvard, Steve amassed numerous accolades and honours, including leading the team in scoring 3 of his 4 years, being named Team Rookie of the Year, League Rookie Scoring Leader, League Rookie of the Year, Team MVP, First Team All-League, captaining the team to a League Championship and finishing his career as one of the all-time scoring leaders in the school's storied 115-year hockey history, the oldest in the country. While at Harvard Steve was also a member of the highly-ranked Varsity Tennis Team with National Champion and eventual #4-ranked Pro (ATP) Player James Blake. Steve graduated from Harvard in 2001 with a B.A. in Environmental Science and Public Policy with honors. PRO Steve was rated a 1st round draft pick by NHL Central Scouting, and in 1998 was drafted in the 2nd round, 53rd overall, by the Colorado Avalanche. Steve would join the Colorado Avalanche as defending Stanley Cup Champions in 2001, upon graduating from Harvard, where his new teammates would include nine perennial NHL all stars and hall-of-famers, including Patrick Roy, Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Adam Foote, Rob Blake, Paul Kariya, Teemu Selanne, Alex Tanguay and Milan Hejduk. Steve spent most of his first two seasons with Colorado's top affiliate, The Hershey Bears, where he was named Rookie of the Year and served as Assistant Captain, and after numerous call-ups to the Avalanche over that time Steve permanently made the Colorado Avalanche team in his 3rd pro year. In this 2003-2004 season, Steve's Rookie NHL campaign, Steve quickly established himself on the roster of a team ranked first in the NHL, and moved up to play on the first and second lines of the Avalanche squad amidst his childhood heroes as teammates. BERTUZZI INCIDENT In March 2004 Steve's career was suddenly and violently ended by a premeditated sucker-punch from behind by opposing player, Todd Bertuzzi. Steve suffered three broken vertebrae (without paralysis) and a concussion, among other injuries. (Read more about the Bertuzzi Incident HERE.) POST-INCIDENT Steve devoted the months and years following the incident to recovering from his injuries and attempting to return to his NHL career. Sadly, that was not to be. After five years seeing the world's leading doctors, therapists and rehabilitation specialists, and tremendous progress, Steve was told by his doctors he would not receive medical clearance to return to play. During that process he realized that the medical community doesn't know that much about concussions, and that there are no clinically proven treatments available other than rest. In seeking out answers he also learned that many of the world's best doctors are not collaborating enough or sharing their information or their experiences with one another. Thus The Steve Moore Foundation was born, to facilitate the collaboration that was lacking, and to make real progress in the areas of concussion treatment and prevention. PERSONAL Steve resides in the Toronto area with his wife and three young children. |