Wings’ Todd Bertuzzi is better second time around
Helene St. James, Free Press – During his first stint with the Red Wings, Todd Bertuzzi looked like a player not long for the NHL.
During this second stint, he’s looking like the steal of last summer, when the Wings picked him up for $1.5 million. Bertuzzi notched his 13th assist and 25th point of the season when he set up Pavel Datsyuk’s power play goal in Saturday’s 4-1 victory over Phoenix at Jobing.com Arena.
It’s Bertuzzi’s willingness to play hard in his own end, though, that’s especially pleased his coach.
“His commitment to playing without the puck is — I don’t want to say it’s shocking, but it’s fantastic,” Mike Babcock said. “He’s been great. I’ve got four or five clips of him (from Thursday’s Colorado game) just flat-out being fantastic defensively on the back check turning pucks over and leading the offense. Good for him and good for us.”
Bertuzzi is a month shy of 35 and on track to play a full 82-game season for the first time since 2005-06, finally over the back problems that diminished his effectiveness for so long, including the three months he spent with Detroit in the spring of ’07.
Saturday’s game was the 900th of Bertuzzi’s NHL career, and reaching the milestone of 1,000 now doesn’t seem as unlikely.
“It just comes down to health,” Bertuzzi said. “If I feel healthy and I feel good, I think I can still play some pretty good hockey. I still love playing, which is a big difference this year than any other year — I’m enjoying it. After the handful of injuries, the knee and the back — it wasn’t fun feeling like crap every day coming into the rink and trying to skate. You’re so stiff you can’t even move.
“It’s taken about three years to feel back to normal. I’m skating better, got more energy, got more pep. I love playing again.”
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Storm bio… Todd Bertuzzi was the first player ever selected by the Storm when the club re-located to Guelph from Hamilton. The Sudbury native went on to play four seasons with the Storm and ranks third all-time in club history with 280 points. He also owns the Storm record for most goals in a Storm season (54) and career penalty minutes (538). Drafted by the NY Islanders 23rd overall in the 1st round (1993).
