US court upholds judgment against ex-NHLer Miller Associated Press 25 minutes ago GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) â A federal judge in Michigan upheld a $1.6 million judgment against former Detroit Red Wings forward Kevin Miller for a hit from behind during a 2000 Swiss league game that ended another player's career. U.S. District Judge Gordon Quist in Grand Rapids ruled in favor of a Swiss insurance company. The insurer had asked the court to recognize a Swiss court's $1.1 million judgment, which increased to $1.6 million with interest and costs. Quist said in Thursday's ruling that his court was following the Uniform Foreign-Country Judgments Recognition Act. Miller's hit on Canadian national Andrew McKim caused McKim to fall forward and strike his head on the ice. He was hospitalized for weeks with a concussion and other injuries. Miller previously refused to pay the Swiss court's judgment. It's unclear how the case might influence a lawsuit filed in Canada, stemming from a hit that ended the career of former Colorado Avalanche center Steve Moore. Moore is suing Todd Bertuzzi and the Vancouver Canucks for $38 million for a 2004 on-ice hit in which Moore sustained a concussion and three fractured vertebrae. Bertuzzi was suspended for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs, which cost him about $502,000, and he didn't play during the 2004-05 lockout season. But he was reinstated for the 2005-06 campaign and has since continued his career, most recently with Detroit. Bertuzzi also pleaded guilty to a criminal charge of assault causing bodily harm and was sentenced in 2006 to a year of probation and 80 hours of community service. A trial date in that case has been set for Sept. 8 in Toronto.
