Wings sign Todd Bertuzzi

[Peleshob 0]

Man... I don't see why people are so upset about these deals. I was bummed about the Williams one because I pretty much hate any forward that plays the point on the PP. I think it's smart to have these guys fill in to allow the AHL players some growth. Would you rather have these guys, who are all one year deal, and have Abdelkader blossom into a power forward, or go with Abs and have him crap out because he was rushed?

No, these aren't the best deals that could be had, but they're all one-year deals. If you think about it, this is as bad as it's going to get in terms of a re-building phase for this team. The core of the team is locked up and buys into the team philiosophy. We have a damn good team to cheer for and a lot of us fans are just spoiled.

[GoWings1905 2,694]

What a waste of 1.5 million,this guy is useless,what were you thinking Holland?He doesnt hit(anymore)he doesnt backcheck and he takes stupid penalties.For those of you who think hes physical maybe you should watch him play sometime,ask any flame or Canuck fan.His best years are behind him,ever since the moore incident hes only been half the player he once was.

For a team looking to replace a ton of offensive production, I don't think a 44-point player qualifies as useless under these circumstances.

[skacore 2]

What a waste of 1.5 million,this guy is useless,what were you thinking Holland?He doesnt hit(anymore)he doesnt backcheck and he takes stupid penalties.For those of you who think hes physical maybe you should watch him play sometime,ask any flame or Canuck fan.His best years are behind him,ever since the moore incident hes only been half the player he once was.

half of one of the best power forward's ever is still a good deal @ 1.5 mill ... half of the old Bertuzzi is still 40-50 points

[esteef 2,679]

Personally I feel these guys should get time in the bigs: Ericsson, Helm, Leino, and Abdelkader.

I'm still scratching my head on the Eaves signing; what can he do that'll be considerably better than the 3 forwards mentioned above?

Be traded?

[chrisdetroit 189]

If Lilja becomes healthy before the season starts, and the Wings plan on keeping all six of Lidstrom/Rafalski/Kronwall/Stuart/Ericsson/Lilja and only retaining one of Lebda or Meech, they would most likely drop Lebda and his $650k. That means the Wings would still be $320k over the cap with 13-7-2. At that point, the Wings can make it under the cap by sending Helm, Leino, or Maltby to Grand Rapids. If Maltby is chosen, yes he would have to clear waivers. But Maltby being sent down means the Wings can still afford to have a 13th forward from the group of Oulahen, McGrath, Newbury, and Jeremy Williams; who have to clear waivers to go to the AHL themselves.

In other words, Bertuzzi for $1.5m was too much; his deal should have been for $1.1m or less. Then a Lebda trade clears enough space if Lilja is healthy.

The Wngs are NOT going to send Maltby to GR. That would be a slap in the face and that's not how the organization works. My guess is Eaves would get sent down.

[sibiriak 84]

I think it's more that he doesn't want a team that's full of rookies. We're already starting the season with 4 rookies, I just can't imagine Holland wanting to have more unknowns than that.

Helm, Ericsson, Leino and Howard? Helm, at his 22 years of age, played 23 NHL reg. season games and 41 NHL playoff games so he is a rookie only technically, ditto 25-year old Ericsson (27+22 which makes him no longer a rookie with over 25 NHL carreer regular season games), and 25-yr old Leino is fairly old for a rookie and played against men on a high level for several years. Howard at 25 and with 9 carreer NHL games is the least exprienced of the 4 and he is a backup goalie who won't see 25 starts. I don't see the lack of maturity/experience as a big issue.

[Bring Back The Bruise Bros 1,029]

half of one of the best power forward's ever is still a good deal @ 1.5 mill ... half of the old Bertuzzi is still 40-50 points

Personally, i dnt think hes worth $1.5 m. I wouldve liked to see it 1 year, $1m. but ur rite, he'll still put up some points

[Nightfall 871]

IMHO part of the reason Kronner spent extra time in GR was due to the 2004/2005 lock-out vs not being ready for the NHL...Either way he's developed quite well...I'm certainly no expert on what we got in GR, but I get the impression there's not a player ready for the NHL - other than Helm/Ericsson; to me Leino looked "okay", but I wasn't blown away...Abdelkader looks promising as well, but after him - what's left?

Thats NHL ready now? No one. You mentioned them all. Leino is borderline ready for me as well. I hope he really kicks it in the ass for the Wings in training camp.

The rest of the players need time to develop. Thats where they should stay. Thats why Bert was signed.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Helm, Ericsson, Leino and Howard? Helm, at his 22 years of age, played 23 NHL reg. season games and 41 NHL playoff games so he is a rookie only technically, ditto 25-year old Ericsson (27+22 which makes him no longer a rookie with over 25 NHL carreer regular season games), and 25-yr old Leino is fairly old for a rookie and played against men on a high level for several years. Howard at 25 and with 9 carreer NHL games is the least exprienced of the 4 and he is a backup goalie who won't see 25 starts. I don't see the lack of maturity/experience as a big issue.

You should know by now that the Wings always air on the side of "veteran". And like it or not, those four are all technically rookies until they have "full" seasons. It's not necessarily an issue with maturity as much as it's an issue with predicting what you'll get over the course of a campaign.

When was the last time you remember us having 4 rookies set to play full time (not injury replacements) on the squad in October?

[Dabura 12,207]

Big body. Good offensive upside for 1.5. Definitely adds some legitimate depth at forward.

I'll take it.

[Hockeytown_Ryan 119]

There is no sense in having players like Abdelkader rot on the fourth line here, when their development could be furthered by having them play top line minutes in Grand Rapids.

If our prospects earn it (and I'm not saying Abby hasn't, because he has, it's just not the right time), they will get their chances.

I think if you ask Abdelkader, He'd rather "rot" in the "SHOW" then be in GR for another year, But he does need the time down there to get his tude in order....

This off-season has been less than stellar. tho I may not like what has happened, There is only 2 things I can really do about it..#1 Nothing......and #2 .... like it.....

Go Wings!!!!

[e_prime 1,936]

only if it counts as two fights, one for each player

absolutely! i wouldn't want it any other way!!!

[Z and D for the C 712]

You should know by now that the Wings always air on the side of "veteran". And like it or not, those four are all technically rookies until they have "full" seasons. It's not necessarily an issue with maturity as much as it's an issue with predicting what you'll get over the course of a campaign.

When was the last time you remember us having 4 rookies set to play full time (not injury replacements) on the squad in October?

"Err"

[thegerkin 189]

I guess my issue with people hating on Bertuzzi, saying that he sucked when he was with the Wings before, etc... is that he only played 8 REGULAR SEASON GAMES. He did have an additional 16 games in the playoffs. He was also coming off back surgery. What did you expect? Gretzky or Lemieux-type numbers?? His first tour in Detroit was a tough situation all around for him. Hell, he didn't even have time to gel with any linemates! At least give him a legitimate shot...

[newfy 695]

I think its funny reading this thread and seeing some of the people who in enforcer threads talk about how we shouldn't quetion Holland or pick another team and so on. Well all you can just trust in Kenny and stop complaining because this was your exact argument. Trust Kenny if he doesn't want grit cheer for other teams blah blah blah. Well we signed Bert so you can go cheer for another team now if you don't trust Kenny

[Doc Holiday 0]

I think its funny reading this thread and seeing some of the people who in enforcer threads talk about how we shouldn't quetion Holland or pick another team and so on. Well all you can just trust in Kenny and stop complaining because this was your exact argument. Trust Kenny if he doesn't want grit cheer for other teams blah blah blah. Well we signed Bert so you can go cheer for another team now if you don't trust Kenny

Newfy, get off the soapbox.

I have no problem with grit. Our differences of opinion are based on the necessity of having grit.

[Electrophile 3,554]

Copypasta'd from the Goon thread:

In any event, a couple other boards I post on that are sports-oriented are pretty much all in the same camp - this signing makes the Wings look bad, partly because of his reputation, partly because it's not immediately clear how effective he'll be. Someone actually said signing Bertuzzi "upped our douchebag quotient" and when someone else pointed out that the Wings were not known for having a douchebag quotient since we have pretty classy and well-spoken players, that person responded by saying "well, adding a douchebag to their roster when there weren't any before would up their douchebag quotient, now wouldn't it?"

I'm not saying Holland should make choices based on what people say on the internet, but damn it I don't want people thinking the Red Wings are douchebags because of this guy. I don't care if people hate us because we're talented, always in the playoffs and a Cup threat and have players who sign here for less out of loyalty to the team and the city.....but I DO care if they think we're douchebag assholes because of 1 guy on the team.

I won't boo him or hope he gets injured or anything like that but I'll be damned if I'm going to be happy he's here.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

"Err"

s***. I usually rely on my content to imply I'm a ******, but here my spelling got me first.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Copypasta'd from the Goon thread:

In any event, a couple other boards I post on that are sports-oriented are pretty much all in the same camp - this signing makes the Wings look bad, partly because of his reputation, partly because it's not immediately clear how effective he'll be. Someone actually said signing Bertuzzi "upped our douchebag quotient" and when someone else pointed out that the Wings were not known for having a douchebag quotient since we have pretty classy and well-spoken players, that person responded by saying "well, adding a douchebag to their roster when there weren't any before would up their douchebag quotient, now wouldn't it?"

I'm not saying Holland should make choices based on what people say on the internet, but damn it I don't want people thinking the Red Wings are douchebags because of this guy. I don't care if people hate us because we're talented, always in the playoffs and a Cup threat and have players who sign here for less out of loyalty to the team and the city.....but I DO care if they think we're douchebag assholes because of 1 guy on the team.

I won't boo him or hope he gets injured or anything like that but I'll be damned if I'm going to be happy he's here.

[Electrophile 3,554]

LOL......I realized I posted in the wrong thread initially and meant to put that here. Copypasta'd is one of my favorite words, BTW.

[Heroes of Hockeytown 694]

I'm not saying Holland should make choices based on what people say on the internet, but damn it I don't want people thinking the Red Wings are douchebags because of this guy. I don't care if people hate us because we're talented, always in the playoffs and a Cup threat and have players who sign here for less out of loyalty to the team and the city.....but I DO care if they think we're douchebag assholes because of 1 guy on the team.

Considering Kenny has had no problems bringing in some of the other great villains in NHL history to don the Winged Wheel -- think Chris Chelios and Ulf Samuelsson -- it's no shocker to me that he's willing to bring in a less than reputable character if he thinks it can help the team.

[Dimaline312000 51]

I guess I'm gonna jump on the band-wagon and get behind Bertuzzi. I still don't like what he did to Moore but he is a Detroit Red Wing again and I support the Wings to the end so I support Todd Bertuzzi as well. Welcome back Bert!!!!

[purebooyah 1]

Copypasta'd from the Goon thread:

In any event, a couple other boards I post on that are sports-oriented are pretty much all in the same camp - this signing makes the Wings look bad, partly because of his reputation, partly because it's not immediately clear how effective he'll be. Someone actually said signing Bertuzzi "upped our douchebag quotient" and when someone else pointed out that the Wings were not known for having a douchebag quotient since we have pretty classy and well-spoken players, that person responded by saying "well, adding a douchebag to their roster when there weren't any before would up their douchebag quotient, now wouldn't it?"

I'm not saying Holland should make choices based on what people say on the internet, but damn it I don't want people thinking the Red Wings are douchebags because of this guy. I don't care if people hate us because we're talented, always in the playoffs and a Cup threat and have players who sign here for less out of loyalty to the team and the city.....but I DO care if they think we're douchebag assholes because of 1 guy on the team.

I won't boo him or hope he gets injured or anything like that but I'll be damned if I'm going to be happy he's here.

So some opinion from some random person on the internet who's a fan of some other team is affecting your opinion on the Bertuzzi signing? Not to mention that it looks like that random person is judging the entire fan base and team from 1 guy on the team? Personally I couldn't care less what other fans from other teams think of the Wings and their signings.

[puertoricanWingsfan 5]

I gotta be honest. I don't like this at all. I know that people say that the wings could use some extra muscle here and there but Todd Bertuzzi? He's a totally classless, unprofessional goon. The Wings signing Todd Bertuzzi is like The United States electing a known crime boss to Congress. It's ridiculous! This is the same guy who sucker punched a guy from behind and sent him to the hospital, then cried boo hoo "that's not how I play the game" in his press conference apology. Are we serious?

I'm not talking about his level of play. I'm not talking about his ability to be a secondary scorer. I don't care about his injury ridden past with the wings. I'm not sitting here going "oh he's no good. He can't do this or that."

I'm saying he's an ******* who, by his very signing, makes the entire Wings organization look like assholes.

I don't like it. not one bit.

[Guest micah]

Considering Kenny has had no problems bringing in some of the other great villains in NHL history to don the Winged Wheel -- think Chris Chelios and Ulf Samuelsson -- it's no shocker to me that he's willing to bring in a less than reputable character if he thinks it can help the team.

That's exactly it. People who think the Wings as an organisation are cocerned about being "classy" or any other such foolishness are deluding themselves. Holland would bring in whoever he thought could help the team win. If it were Sadam Hussein, he would have sent him an offer sheet. sometimes I don't like it, because it means that the Wings are a bunch of Euro-pansies who refuse to play like men. Sometimes the "Wings are sooo classy!" people don't like it because there is no player in the league to unclassy for Holland to consider. It does suck once in awhile, but you cannot argue with the results. You can dislike the product, but the product does get Cups.

Seems to me that "win at all costs" folks would probably make the best wings fans. Fans who do not care about entertainment, fans who do not care about player attitude, charisma or morality, fans that only care about winning. There's nothing wrong with that - but if that's what you're into, you oughta be honest with yourself.

As for me, in my personal life, the means are as important as the results. That's why I can come accross as a disgruntled Wings fan here and there - the team under Ken Holland is not run in a manner that I can easily relate to.