Red Wings' Todd Bertuzzi: The Enigma

This all started back when Todd was with the New York Islanders in the 1995/96 season and put up some decent numbers with 18 goals and 21 assists in 76 games. There was an expectation from then GM Mike Milbury, that this possible power forward would increase those numbers in the next couple of seasons.

Unfortunately the next season (1996/97) only produced 10 goals and 13 assists in 64 games and the season after that (1997/98) seven goals and 11 assists, before he was deemed an underachiever and shipped to the Vancouver Canucks along with Bryan McCabe and a third round draft choice (Jarkko Ruutu) for Trevor Linden  

In 1998/99 Bertuzzi’s season was shortened due to an injury but the promise of this hulking forward started to emerge in 1999/00 with 25 goals and 25 assists. The following five seasons playing alongside Markus Naslund and Brendan Morrison were his most productive with 149 goals, which averaged out to 30 per-season.

This was a player that was admired and loved by the fans and his teammates but because of his distaste with the media, was painted as being moody and disobliging with them.

We all know about the Steve Moore incident which seemed to start the downfall of Bertuzzi and eventually brought about the trade with the Florida Panthers for Roberto Luongo and others in 2006/07.

His game just never seemed to be the same again and along with some recurring back injuries, he found himself being tossed around like a ship in a storm. From 2006/07 he was dealt or signed with Detroit, Anaheim, Calgary, and this season signed back on with the Detroit Red Wings, in what seemed to be his last hurrah.

Big Bert, being the battler that he has had to be to get through this Moore mess, has seemed to turn this season into a comeback of sorts and after 39 games has 12 goals and 13 assists. If he were to keep on this pace he might record his best goal season since he left the Canucks in 2005/06 (25 G).

If you watched him the other night against the Columbus Blue Jackets where he scored both Detroit goals, it brought back memories of his best years with the Canucks. He was driving to the net with power, using his large frame to create havoc in front of the net and deftly handled the puck with those soft hands.

Todd really seems to found the "fun" in hockey again and is currently third in team scoring, behind only Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. In a year where Detroit has seen a ton of injuries, Bertuzzi is a most welcomed addition. 

I for one, hope he has that best year since, because he has paid for his misjudgment and everyone deserves to shine again.