Detroit – Todd Bertuzzi moved swiftly and with purpose, a look of fierce determination on his bearded face. He sped past the people in front of him, weaving through traffic with grace and ease.
Unfortunately for the Detroit Red Wings, that described Bertuzzi negotiating through reporters after a practice at Joe Louis Arena. His quickness on the ice these days is another story.
“I don’t think you’ll see him be any factor the rest of these playoffs,” Hockey Night in Canada analyst Kelly Hrudey said of Bertuzzi on air between periods of Sunday’s Game 2 of the Western Conference finals against the Anaheim Ducks.
Bertuzzi’s inability to keep stride with aging Anaheim defenseman Sean O’Donnell was spotlighted. Bertuzzi’s surgically repaired back isn’t strong enough to allow him to skate well. The back problems and his subsequent surgery in November limited Bertuzzi to 15 games in the regular season. The Red Wings, however, are not yet willing to pass any harsh judgment against the player who came to them with considerable baggage in a trade from Florida in February.
A civil lawsuit remains pending against Bertuzzi for his March 8, 2004, on-ice attack against former Avalanche forward Steve Moore that broke three vertebrae, caused other head and facial injuries and has prevented Moore from playing since. Several days after the incident, Bertuzzi issued a tearful public apology. His old team, the Vancouver Canucks, and their former owners are defendants in a $19.5 million suit that likely will begin next year in Ontario.
With a case pending, it is understandable Bertuzzi would say “no comment” when asked about it. But there hasn’t been much for him to talk about when it comes to his contributions to the Red Wings, who lead the Ducks 2-1 in the series after winning 5-0 on Tuesday. Bertuzzi has been reduced to a bit player. He barely played in Anaheim’s 4-3 overtime victory Sunday, logging 13:51 overall in the nearly 80-minute game, with zero shots on goal and no points. In 13 playoff games, Bertuzzi has two goals, including one Tuesday, and five points.
Red Wings general manager Ken Holland acknowledged Bertuzzi’s contributions haven’t been much the past few games, but says he has confidence the trade could pay off in the end.
“What he does for us is, he gives us the dimension of size,” Holland said. “People that want to criticize our team would say we’re not big enough, that we don’t have that edge and we’re not physical enough. Todd addresses for us both those needs. We felt that it would take him some time. You can’t just come into the Stanley Cup playoffs, miss four months of hockey and think you’re going to back to your ‘A’ game.”
Holland said Bertuzzi already helped his team win in the first round, against a Calgary team that wanted to rough it up. Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf had been getting away with physical liberties, but Holland didn’t notice him as much after Bertuzzi slammed him to the ice in a Game 5 confrontation.
“(That) ends it. If Phaneuf is allowed to kind of go around and play physical and it’s never addressed, who knows where the series might go?” Holland said. “We knew he’d be a little rusty. But he certainly gives us depth and size and a physical presence.”
Against the big, physical Ducks, however, Bertuzzi’s heft may not be enough. One of the players battling against him right now is Brad May, a former Avs winger and former teammate of Bertuzzi’s in Vancouver, who initially was a defendant in a suit involving the Moore incident that was thrown out of a Denver court for jurisdictional reasons.
May said he wouldn’t hesitate to put Bertuzzi through the glass if it helped win the Ducks a game, but they remain good friends.
“He’s still one of my best buddies in hockey,” May said. “He’s a great guy. We’re here to both win, but we’ll see each other when we’re both finished. I’ve just had a great relationship with him. Obviously, it’s been difficult for him. A lot of things that have been said have no reflection on how he is as a person. I’m not the one saying them, so I can sleep at night.”
May added that he has wished for nothing but good things for Moore since the incident, but wouldn’t comment beyond that. Moore, 28, continues to try to rehabilitate for a return to the NHL, but doctors have yet to give him medical clearance.
Anaheim general manager Brian Burke, who held the same position with Vancouver at the time of the incident and was vocal in his support of Bertuzzi, also would not comment about the situation.
Wings veteran Kris Draper, severely injured in 1996 by a big hit from behind by former Av Claude Lemieux and whose family nearly sued over it, spoke of Bertuzzi’s present, and not his past.
“He’s been something that we certainly needed. At the deadline, we wanted to get bigger and tougher to play against, and that was certainly addressed with his addition,” Draper said.
Red Wings fans seem reluctant to evaluate Bertuzzi. Only a handful of fans wore his No. 44 jersey to the first two games of the series in Detroit, and some postgame talk show callers were critical of his play.
Holland knew Bertuzzi was a risky pickup, and weighed the potential distraction his presence might cause.
“I thought when it was over, watching from afar, it appeared to me that Bertuzzi apologized,” Holland said. “I don’t really think that Todd is that type of a player. It was probably a little bit like Detroit-Colorado. When it escalates to a certain point, it’s exciting, and sometimes it escalates a little bit too far and things get a little bit crazy. Up in Vancouver, with Colorado, things probably got a little bit too crazy. The league looked into it and the courts looked into it, and we just felt that he’d paid his dues.”
A court may still decide otherwise.
Lows outweigh highs in Bertuzzi’s recent history
NHL reporter Adrian Dater looks back at key moments for Red Wings forward Todd Bertuzzi:
2002-03: Posts a career-high 97 points for Vancouver, playing on a line with Markus Naslund and Brendan Morrison.
March 8, 2004: In the third period of a game vs. Colorado at General Motors Place, punches Avalanche rookie Steve Moore from behind and lands on top of him. Moore suffers fractured vertebrae and multiple head and facial injuries.
March 11, 2004: Suspended indefinitely by the NHL, and through the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Dec. 22, 2004: Pleads guilty to an assault charge for the Moore incident and is given a conditional discharge and one year’s probation.
Feb. 16, 2006: Named, along with Vancouver Canucks and its ownership group, in $19.5 million civil lawsuit filed by Moore’s parents. Trial is expected to begin sometime in 2008.
June 23, 2006: Traded by Vancouver to Florida.
Nov. 2, 2006: Back problems lead to surgery that limits him to 15 games during 2006-07 season.
Feb. 27, 2007: Traded by Florida to Detroit.
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com.
