Todd Bertuzzi: Already Established Veteran Redefines the Red Wings

Even though we lost a ton of skilled players during the offseason, I was happy about one thing. The losses were sustained at the beginning of the offseason.

This gave us time to find replacements and help our roster, and that's exactly what happened when we acquired Todd Bertuzzi.

At first, I was a little skeptical of the acquiring of Todd Bertuzzi. He has had a ton of injuries in his career, and I wasn't sure whether or not he was still able to play at the level we needed him to.

It's kind of ironic that a player who has been having injury trouble for the past few years is the biggest hero on an injury filled lineup.

Bertuzzi's late-game heroics have won a couple of crucial games for the Wings. He was starting to prove himself as a hero before the injury to Henrik Zetterburg.

When Zetterburg went down with an injury, we needed another player that could step up and take his place.

Bertuzzi's biggest triumph came last night when he scored Detroit's only two goals against the Blue Jackets. His two goals were enough to win the game for the Wings and break the three game losing streak.

He's had a couple of OT winners, but last night was an outstanding individual effort from Bertuzzi. His goals could not have come at a better time. With the three game losing streak, we needed to win that game.

Last night, we saw what Bertuzzi has been able to do for his entire career. He's the power forward that the Red Wings need.

This is especially true now with our depleted lineup. It's nice to know that we still have another solid veteran that can score goals.

See more of my opinions at Tips for Hockey