Todd Bertuzzi had a stressful off-day before his Flames met the Blues Tuesday night.

He was in Toronto, participating in a mediation hearing regarding Steve Moore’s lawsuit against him. You will recall that Bertuzzi ended Moore’s career by sucker-punching him from behind and driving his head into the ice back in 2004.

Now Moore is seeking $38 million in lost income and damages from Bertuzzi and his old team, the Vancouver Canucks. This apparently was the first time they have met face to face since the incident.

Tim Danson, Moore’s lawyer, told the Canadian Press that “all the parties” involved in the case attended the mediation but the discussions were confidential. “The purpose behind mediation for all cases is to facilitate a resolution of the dispute,” Danson said Tuesday.

Bertuzzi claimed he was just following orders when he attacked Moore. Then-Canucks coach Marc Crawford claims Big Bert disobeyed orders to get off the ice shortly before the attack occurred.

So far, Bertuzzi has been on his best behavior for the Flames. If anything, he has been too polite – earning just 26 penalty minutes and posting a minus-15 rating.

FAREWELL TO A PROSPECT

Here is more stuff on Hockey Guy’s favorite prospect, who returned him to Russia without playing a regular season game in the NHL.

AROUND THE RINKS: Marian Gaborik is finally ready to play hockey again! No, really, he insists he is good to go. The Wild will be happy to get him, because that team has scored just five goals in its last five games. Minnesota’s 76 goals scored this season are the fewest in the Western Conference. “I feel better every day,” Gaborik told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “Hopefully I can play this week, maybe Wednesday. It feels pretty good.” That means the team can go ahead and trade him soon, rather than lose him down the road as a free agent . . . Now that Mats Sundin may actually sign with a team and play the second half of the season, Peter Forsberg is testing his oft-repaired feet to see if he has any chance of coming back this season. If he comes back, he will likely return to the Avalanche . . . There has been some premature speculation that Sundin has already decided on the Rangers. But the Sundin camp was to meet with the Canucks again today and perhaps make its decision by tomorrow. If New York is his destination, Rangers GM Glen Sather will have to get busy moving some salary off his books . . . Old friend Lee Stempniak has been moved to a line with Mikhail Grabovski and Alexei Ponikarovski in Toronto . . . The Blues have been pleasantly surprised by new call-up Tyson Strachan, a big defenseman once drafted by the Hurricanes. The Rivermen fished him out of the ECHL last season and he has progressed nicely as a stay-at-homer defender. With Eric Brewer injured, the Blues needed another body for the blue line. With European players unwilling to spend much time in the “A”, more players from the ECHL are enjoying upward mobility . . . Remember Timofei Shishkanov? The Blues short-timer suffered a terrible start in the Kontinental Hockey League, producing just one assist in his first 17 games this season . . . If Sean Avery ends up in the AHL to rehab his image and cool his heels, will he get a chance to face agitator Claude Lemieux? That old-timer is making an unlikely comeback . . . Former NHL journeyman Sean Pronger, brother of Chris, wrote an entertaining blog post about the life of an extra player . . . Joe Sakic’s snowblower injury prompted the Boston Globe to recall a few of the stranger off-ice injuries . . . Pundits keep debating the value of or damage from overtime victories and OTLs.