The Hockey News: Ryan Kennedy's blog: THN.com Blog: Big Bert curse will do in Wings

THN.com Blog: Big Bert curse will do in Wings

Todd Bertuzzi had 15 goals and had 44 points with the Flames last season. (Photo by Don Smith/Getty Images)

Ryan Kennedy
2009-08-19 11:15:00

Much is made about our summer pre-season predictions by both press and fans - and if the home team is seen to have gotten short shrift, we hear about it. Now, I’m not going to wade into the minutiae of the debates, but let’s just say we’re not pulling names out of a hat here.

And though many factors can swing a team’s fortunes in one direction or another, I can safely say this: Detroit just eighty-sixed its chances at getting back to the Stanley Cup final this season.

It’s only August, you say? No matter. The Red Wings just signed left winger Todd Bertuzzi to a one-year contract, which means for the 2009-10 season, the Wings will, in fact, be cursed.

Nothing against Detroit; it’s just (pseudo) science.

For a reason I need not remind any hockey fan of, the infamous Bertuzzi has worn the mark of Cain from the hockey gods since 2004. Since the Steve Moore attack, the one-time 97-point scorer has gone through five different address changes and this will be his second stint in Detroit.

Red Wings brass is pretty infallible, but should GM Ken Holland and friends not have learned the first time around? That would be in 2007, when Detroit picked up Bertuzzi for a Stanley Cup run that ended prematurely in the Western Conference final with a series loss to the eventual champion Anaheim Ducks. That would be the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Red Wings (shared with Buffalo), who had home-ice advantage in the series and would win the Cup the following season – once Bertuzzi was gone.

Though I wish Big Bert no specific ill will, recent history has shown that everything the man touches turns to ash. His trade from Vancouver to Florida was an unmitigated disaster for the Panthers, who lost Roberto Luongo in the deal and sloughed Bertuzzi off on Detroit after just seven games of service (karma-wise, injuries have followed the power forward around like buzzards in recent years).

At the time of the Wings deal, it seemed as though Florida had pulled off a rare coup in getting highly regarded prospect Shawn Matthias in return; but in two full seasons since, Matthias has just four points in 20 NHL games.

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After winning the Cup in ’07, Anaheim brought back nearly the exact same core of players the next season, adding Mathieu Schneider and Bertuzzi. The result? The Ducks were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round by lower-seeded Dallas.

Big Bert then took his show to Calgary, where a Flames lineup loaded with talented players such as Jarome Iginla, Mike Cammalleri, Dion Phaneuf, Olli Jokinen (geez, I guess the Flames were double-cursed) and Miikka Kiprusoff were doused in the first round by upstart Chicago.

The wreckage is rather awful to think about. Markus Naslund, whose honor Bertuzzi was ‘defending’ in the Moore attack, spiraled down in each season since the incident, finally taking early retirement this summer at the age of 36. Linemate Brendan Morrison has also seen a precipitous decline since 2004 and is hoping a move to the offensively gifted Washington Capitals will turn the ship around.

As for the ’09-10 edition of the Wings, I suppose they could reverse the curse – but that would likely involve waiving or trading Bertuzzi before the playoffs come.

Ryan Kennedy is a writer and copy editor for The Hockey News magazine, the co-author of the book Hockey's Young Guns and a regular contributor to THN.com. His blog will appear regularly throughout the off-season, his column - The Straight Edge - on Fridays, and his prospect feature - The Hot List - on Tuesdays.

For more great profiles, news and views from the world of hockey, Subscribe to The Hockey News magazine.

COMMENTS (25)

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alwaxman Posted
(2009-09-01 01:08:08)

Ha ha, I guess its a good thing Bert wasn't around 2000 years ago or you'd have him for that too. Gotta agree with Flashpoint, two words, plain and simple...NO HUSTLE!!.

goldenhammersp1 Posted
(2009-08-29 17:34:48)

matyj..I find your reasoning totally one sided. You fail to consider that it takes two to tango. It is not simply a question of symphatizing whether it's in the McSoreley or Bertuzzi incident. I agree that the players have to be accountable for their actions and the league has disciplinary measures in place to deal which each incident. I believe that this process was diligently and duly executed. Yes, Moore's injuries were extremely unfortunate and Bertuzzi has publicly expressed deep remorse for his actions. He made a mistake. There were reasons (possibly some unknown to the public) that preceded this mistake and the resulting lack of judgement on the part of Bertuzzi. It can happen to any player. The fact of the matter is that Bertuzzi has paid dearly for this. In my opinion, for the press or any other source, after so many years, to persist with this blind condemnation goes way beyond the unfortunate incident. ..'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.' Just a thought.

brauns1 Posted
(2009-08-27 20:36:11)

this has been beaten to death already but just thought id clear things up. Most people think this was a bad idea for the Red Wings- wheather its the price tag or the attitude, or the skills. End of discussion. But singollo, I dont even need +- to back up my point, if you had read my post, you would clearly see that i said "I have watched bertuzzi for years in vancouver as i said NEVER plays defence." Thats my proof. I didnt need to add those stats. I you want to contradict, I would like to know if you ever watched him play.

mattyj2001 Posted
(2009-08-27 12:43:24)

I can't imagine what the rest of the players think when Bertuzzi comes into the lockerroom. I can't imagine everyone would welcome him with open arms after what he did to their game. It could have been any one of them that he decided to injure. He deserves to be McSoreley'ed right out of the leauge. Reading the Bertuzzi sympathizers on this thread is painful. He's a despicable human being. Just ask Moore, who not only can never play hockey again, he has to worry about whether or not he can walk. Bertuzzi's hit was well after play had stopped, and it's ridiculous when people characterize it as a simple sucker punch. You all did see the video, right? He physically jumped him from behind and drove his face into the ice, after he was unconscious. And again, this was well after play had stopped and the whistles had blown and everyone was on their way back to the benches for a line change, with their guards down. There was no 'heat of battle'. Bertuzzi is a criminal and has no respect for the game. I boo him heartily any time he's on the ice. Even when I'm at home in front of my TV. Bertuzzi is getting what he deserves, except somehow he's still paid to be a crummy player on top of it all. Both Bertuzzi and Babcock will be looking for new jobs come Christmas. I'm no Detroit fan either, but I wouldn't wish this pox on any team.

imanism Posted
(2009-08-23 02:45:34)

"...waiving or trading Bertuzzi before the playoffs come." ==Fingers crossed== Please, please, please...!

scubasteve Posted
(2009-08-21 14:30:11)

yes Jim, Bertuzzi did attack Moore from behind. But that was after he followed him around the ice the entire shift holding the back of his jersey trying to get him to fight and account for his actions on the dirty hit on Nasland the last time the teams met. Do you really think any enforcer would just back away because the guy didn't want to fight and be like "O ok if you don't want to take account for your actions I guess I'll let you be even though you through a dirty hit at my captain". Get real, the whole situation was blown out of proportion because of the freak injury that occured. Bertuzzi wanted to hurt him and inflict some pain on him so he wouldnt think he could take cheap shots at his Berts teammates anymore. He didn't want to injury him. A punch to the face is meant to hurt not injury. Moore should have been a man and at least stand up for himself when he knew Bert was going to punch him as he did give him fair warning in the media and the entire shift leading up to the punch. At least he gave him a warning and a chance to stand up for himself, you don't hear anything about Scott Nichol being a goon for his sucker punch from behind on Spacek that came out of no where without any sort of a warning. Nichol and Spacek just got lucky that there was no freak injury involved like what happened with Bertuzzi and Moore.

goldenhammersp1 Posted
(2009-08-21 10:32:37)

Todd Bertuzzi's true curse is the type of negative thinking displayed by Ryan Kennedy. Most fans agree that the Moore incident was an extremely unfortunate event for Todd. Had Bertuzzi any idea of the consequences of that impulsive reaction? Obviously not. It was a mistake. The curse that followed was the reaction of the fans that turned on Todd and continued to harass him at every opportunity. The fans' reaction, in my opinion, went way beyond in chastising Todd for that mistake. It represented a hateful and personal attack. A professional hockey player is an athlete but also a human being. I have problems believing that the constant harassments displayed by some of the fans at each subsequent game did not have an impact on Todd's skills. Five years later and the harassment still continues. Lets call a spade a spade. There is no curse. There's just a lot of misguided hatefullness. My hats off to the RED WINGS for giving Todd his due recognition as a person and a hockey player. I hope the fans do so as well.

jimreinecke Posted
(2009-08-21 10:20:04)

@hockeynut100: So Moore is a coward because he had enough sense to not engage the Abe Reles of the NHL at that particular time? Spare me! And I certainly think that you and I can have a rather spirited debate on the definition of the word "coward". . .to me a coward is the gutless hooligan who attacks a guy FROM BEHIND in a manner that would have his brutish, thuggish butt in a penitentiary if he'd pulled it anywhere but on a hockey rink. Your claim that Moore was as much to blame for his career-ending (and life-altering) injuries as this cheap, worthless bully who jumped him doesn't hold enough water to quench the thirst of the average gnat, either. By your (you should pardon the loose application of this word) thinking, that's like saying that JFK was as responsible for his demise as his assassins (and Oswald was NOT one of them) since he was warned in advance that Dallas was hostile territory and there was talk that threats against his life had been made. The Wings have made a mistake here and by continuing to offer this hood employment, the NHL also continues to cultivate its unfortunate image as a garage league with the mainstream American media and sports fan.

tiny19 Posted
(2009-08-21 02:34:31)

So I will ask again seeing that my 2 posts were deleted, Other than your so called "pseudo science" reaching for an idea to write about this week, What curse do you speak of???? Do you honestly think that Bertuzzi will be allowed to drag The Wings down? It's really simple, if he doesn't perform at a level that they expect of him, he's the 13th forward or in the minors. Remember they are taking him on as a project, and sometimes when a project isn't going as planned, just like in real life, it gets scrapped. Sorry but I don't forsee the results matching with your hypothesis.

singollo Posted
(2009-08-20 13:52:25)

@Flyersfan- don't you think you're being a little harsh when you say that stats are no gauge of a player's worth? I've seen your quote, but I prefer "Statistics are like bikinis: they show a lot, but they don't show everything". Do stats alone totally offer a complete picture of a player's worth? No. But, if used in the right manner and context, they do paint a pretty clear picture. I agree, brauns1 provides an example of using stats the wrong way: he simply picked out Bert's worst years by a plus/minus basis, and claimed that proved defensive irresponsbility. I could do that for any player. But if you use a player's stats over the course of several years, or in an apples-to-apples comparison with other players, they do tend to be an accurate gauge more often than not.

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