Sigh.
Let's get this out of the way.
I hate Todd Bertuzzi. I didn't like him prior to the Moore incident and I had no use for him as a human being afterwards. His conduct since, including implicating the Canucks management in the Moore civil case, has only deepened my contempt for the man. He's a violent criminal whose cowardly, injurious act destroyed another man's NHL career and altered his life forever. He also strikes me as a dour, surly, taciturn bully and a potential dressing room cancer.
I've been a Flames fan since I can remember. I watched them lose in the finals in '86 and then win the Cup in Montreal three years later. I stuck by them during the terrible Young Guns years and I turned the other cheek when Marchment was brought on board. I'm probably a Flames fan for life now; my support is forever tied to this Franchise. But I won't raise my arms or my voice for Todd Bertuzzi. I can accept that he's "paid his debt" (insofar as he served his disgustingly light sentence) and I won't begrudge him the remainder of his hockey career - but I don't have to like the guy and I refuse to apologize for him now that he's a Flame. I'll cheer for the goals he scores next year only grudgingly and only because he's wearing Flames colors. Any potential success enjoyed by the team will be tainted - distasteful however sweet.
These are the last words I'll have on this issue. I'll reserve my analysis on Bertuzzi from here on in to strictly pragmatic (ie; his usefulness as a hockey player) terms.
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*as if spoken through gritted teeth*
Bertuzzi probably improves the Calgary Flames, albeit marginally and only because the top 6 forward depth was so painfully thin. I can't speak to what effect the ogre will have on the dressing room, but he can still sort of play...in a lazy, morose and occasionally injured fashion. But he still has soft hands and is tough to move off the puck.
Last season, Bertuzzi scored 14 goals and 40 points for the Ducks in 68 games. He enjoyed the best possible linemates (Getzlaf and Perry?) according to behindthenet and saw some pillowy soft competition (-0.06). His ES advanced stats appear fairly pedestrian given his favorable surroundings, however: 1.98 ESP/60, +0.6 CORSI, 2.98 GF/60 and +9 (Getzlaf was +29 by comparison). Im sure Earl will chime in here (already has in the post below I see) to fill in the gaps with some qualitative takes on his performance for the Ducks. Personally, Bertuzzi has seemed tentative and uninvolved to me since his downfall a few years ago; I don't know if this has to do with his on-going injury concerns or his mental baggage, but, echoing the man himself - "it is what it is".
Perhaps more disconcerting are Bertuzzi's PP numbers from last year. His PP/60 of 2.55 was lower than Doug Weight and MA Bergeron and lower than Iginla's ESP/60 rate of 2.85 (!). That's a really minuscule efficacy rate for a supposed top 6 forward. The kicker is, the team scored 6.80 goals/60 while he was on the ice with the man advantage - so either Bertuzzi was contributing and was unlucky enough that his contributions never ended up on the score sheet, or he happened to share the ice with guys that were actually getting results.
Anyways, Bertuzzi will likely have a similar role in Calgary as he did with Anaheim last year, although with lesser linemates. Example -
Cammalleri-Langkow-Lombardi
Boyd?-Lombardi-Bertuzzi
I would expect the 2nd line to be heavily sheltered in this configuration, with Iginla's trio taking on all comers, another "checking" unit seeing tough competition as frequently as possible with Lombardi's line left to pierce the soft underbelly. One of my concerns looking at that combination now is whether Bertuzzi will be able to keep up with water-bugs like Boyd and Lombo - especially given that one of the primary accusations leveled at the latter player is his trouble "playing with" line-mates due to speed differences. I guess we'll see how it plays out.
Bottom-line:
The good - Bertuzzi is a proven top 6 forward who firms up this squads depth chart where it's desperately needed.
The bad - I'll leave it to Robert Cleave, who said it best in the comments below:
Slow, takes a lot of minor penalties, on the decline. Sure he didn't play defence for the Flames last year?
Seriously, I'm not sure even a league minimum 1 year deal is worth the hassle. He's not exactly known to be a great teammate, and this would put the lie to Sutter's claims of more youth and speed up front. Does Sutter think being in Calgary will get any more out of Bertuzzi than being in Detroit or Anaheim did? Those were two pretty stable environments, and he didn't do much. He had good linemates in both places, and a management group in Anaheim that were in his corner. Leave him to the Atlantas of the league.
The best news is he's only signed for a single year and the dollar figure isn't prohibitive (1.95M).
Here's hoping Keenan can squeeze some use out of the big lug.
UPDATE - I'll add the blogosphere reactions as they come in.
Mirtle.
Puck Daddy Wyshnyski.
Nick doesn't like it either.
Jes Golbez.
Jibblescribbits looks forward to hating the Flames.
Duhatschek frowns disapprovingly:
It was six years ago, in the 2001-02 season, that Bertuzzi chased Iginla and his former Canucks' teammate Marcus Naslund for the NHL scoring title. Iginla finished first with 96 points, Bertuzzi third with 85. Bertuzzi is slow by today's NHL standards, but Iginla's normal centre, Daymond Langkow, isn't exactly fleet of foot either. Once again, the operating philosophy in Calgary seems to be out of step with the rest of the league. As everyone else moves to young and fleet, Calgary continues to load up on experienced and physical. That's the polite way of putting it. It'll be up to Bertuzzi to prove he is more than just old, slow and cranky.
Here's a story from the Flames site on the Bertuzzi signing, with comments from Iginla and Bert himself:
"Jarome is 100 per cent why I am a Calgary Flame. It was exciting talking to him" said Bertuzzi, who signed a one-year deal as a free agent with the Flames on Monday. "We respected each other when we played against each other. I have always respected how Jarome has played and been in that market. He probably could have gone somewhere else be he has always stayed. I'm looking forward to being his teammate.
...
Iginla, who played on Canada's Olympic team with Bertuzzi, said Bertuzzi is a tough competitor and that he is looking forward to playing with him. "I'm excited he is going to join our club. I look forward to playing with him and doing some good things. I know when I played iwth him in the past there was a lot of chemistry. I know there are a lot of guys on our team that are excited."
