Bertuzzi in, Jurco out

[Tim.D 176]

@DetroitRedWings: UPDATE: Todd Bertuzzi is in tonight; Tomas Jurco will be a healthy scratch #RedWings

[_SP_ 129]

And Franzen will continue to give minimal effort. Awesome. If they would have kept Jurco w/ Tatar and Sheahan, this wouldn't have been a problem.

[Jersey Wing 1,521]

It's Babcock's call but I don't like this move.

[McAwesome 754]

Total panic reaction and completely unnecessary! Jurco hasn't been part of the problem, he may not have been creating much offense but he has been doing everything else that he's asked to do. Also, Bert for Jurco makes our lineup slower, something I don't think we can afford with as much as we've been being outhit.

[dirtydangles 1,328]

We need Bert to park his ass in front of the net and stay there. Rask is seeing too many of our shots. He was only beat by Datsyuk's screened shot and Glendening's act of dumb luck. We aren't generating any traffic so Bert can at least do that and maybe help the PP with the net front presence. I love Jurco but we need to disturb the front of the net to generate scoring.

[kipwinger 8,754]

Well at least Babs has finally identified the source of our goal scoring problems and taken steps to mitigate the issue...(puke).

[Wings10 300]

Franzen should be the scratch lulz

[kipwinger 8,754]

Can't wait for the inevitable Bertuzzi scapegoating tonight, as if he'll be the reason we play terribly. Talk about setting a guy up for failure.

[Chunkylover 26]

It could be a good thing. As mentioned Jurco hasn't contributed on the score sheet, and Bert might keep Z a little safer. Nobody respects Jurco, but the might be wary of Bertuzzi. We'll see. Since the game hasn't been played yet it's too early to say if it's a bad move, but something has to be done.

Doesn't Bertuzzi play well with Franzen or Zetterberg? I seem to recall him playing well with Z, though that might not have been recent.

[barabbas16 499]

I figure this is a result of how skittish the team was as a whole for Game 3. Put another veteran that's been through it all before into the lineup... take out a kid that hasn't been through it before. It's an effort to calm things down and get mind right to play the right way, imo. I don't think it is a coincidence that he'll be playing on a line with Sheahan and Tatar either.

I don't think it is necessarily a knock on Jurco. He's just the most logical young guy to take out in place of Bertuzzi. It goes along the same lines as bringing Zetterberg back sooner rather than later to play 10 - 12 minutes and sitting another young guy. The team flipped out and crumbled last game. Changes were warranted.... and the changes shouldn't (in my opinion) be 'play even more rookies,' as has been suggested several times.

Just so no one tries to take my message this direction.... No, I don't like Bertuzzi more than Jurco and I don't think he's a better player at this point in their careers. No, I don't think Bertuzzi should be re-signed. Yes, I think he should retire. That said, this change makes sense to me.

[Echolalia 2,961]

We need big bodies who can force themselves to the top of the crease. At the very least, Bert is capable of doing that.

[rick zombo 3,739]

I love Jurco. I hate Bert.

That being said, I can see why Babs wants Bert in front of the net. So someone had to sit and Jurco hasn't played well at all.

[frankgrimes 1,836]

Nothing has worked so far so why not try size, park him in front of the net and hope for some deflections.

[rick zombo 3,739]

I figure this is a result of how skittish the team was as a whole for Game 3. Put another veteran that's been through it all before into the lineup... take out a kid that hasn't been through it before. It's an effort to calm things down and get mind right to play the right way, imo. I don't think it is a coincidence that he'll be playing on a line with Sheahan and Tatar either.

I don't think it is necessarily a knock on Jurco. He's just the most logical young guy to take out in place of Bertuzzi. It goes along the same lines as bringing Zetterberg back sooner rather than later to play 10 - 12 minutes and sitting another young guy. The team flipped out and crumbled last game. Changes were warranted.... and the changes shouldn't (in my opinion) be 'play even more rookies,' as has been suggested several times.

Just so no one tries to take my message this direction.... No, I don't like Bertuzzi more than Jurco and I don't think he's a better player at this point in their careers. No, I don't think Bertuzzi should be re-signed. Yes, I think he should retire. That said, this change makes sense to me.

Generally, I agree with your overall sentiment. Bert's a vetaran and Jurco's a rookie.

But I'd like to point out, that when it comes to playoff hockey Bert hasn't been through s***. Certainly he hasn't been through it "all".

The furthest he's ever gone with a team was in 2007 with Detroit. Western Conference Finals. Last year he rode the pine while we beat Anaheim and almost Chicago. The year before? 1st round loss to Nashville. 2010 and 2011? 2nd round loss to San Jose.

See what I'm saying?

@DetroitRedWings: UPDATE: Todd Bertuzzi is in tonight; Tomas Jurco will be a healthy scratch #RedWings

I'd also like to add: why does this need it's own thread, other than to whine and complain? We're already talking about this in the GDT.

[Jersey Wing 1,521]

Like I said I'm not for this move but I'll cut Babcock some slack. The guy obviously knows what he's doing, history shows this. Maybe's he's thinking back to energy he brought when he fought Klesla a few years ago vs Phoenix. Maybe he wants Bert to show as big as the B's are they bleed too.

[NyquistianDeke 43]

As I said its not Bertuzzi being in the lineup that is the problem. Its where he is putting him. I get wanting a veteran to calm the young guys but there is other ways to do that

Bert if playing needs to be with Z and Dats. It is where he plays best and he can protect Z, plus it gets Abs off the top line.

You could put Legwand with the kids to settle them. It makes better use of Legwand who has far more to offer than 4th line play. Then put Abs on the 4th line and let that line grind on the bruins

[Hairy Lime 234]

Babcock finally showing a little intelligence. Bruins have been manhandling Detroit's forwards in front of Boston's net; put in a guy they can't manhandle. I don't understand why anyone would have a problem with this. If you can't score goals, you try something different. I'd put Cleary in, too, if he could play, and I hate Cleary. All the kids look out of their depth right now. Boston's defence is a bad match-up for them. They would probably be lighting it up if we were playing Pittsburgh.

Edited April 24, 2014 by Hairy Lime

[krsmith17 7,191]

Total overreaction by many here. Am I the only one that sees this as Zetterberg in for Jurco and Bertuzzi in for Andersson (which in my opinion isn't a terrible tradeoff). Sure Andersson is much better on the defensive side of the game, but even at the tender age of 39, Bertuzzi provides much more offense then Andersson and is a much needed addition (net front presence) on the powerplay. I see Jurco being scratched for Zetterberg, which I think we can all agree is an upgrade, even if Hank is only at 80%. Does anyone actually believe that if Zetterberg wasn't ready to go tonight that Jurco would be the odd man out before Andersson? Not likely. Therefore, Hank in replace of Jurco and Bert in replace of Andy.

[marcaractac 3,963]

Total overreaction by many here. Am I the only one that sees this as Zetterberg in for Jurco and Bertuzzi in for Andersson (which in my opinion isn't a terrible tradeoff). Sure Andersson is much better on the defensive side of the game, but even at the tender age of 39, Bertuzzi provides much more offense then Andersson and is a much needed addition (net front presence) on the powerplay. I see Jurco being scratched for Zetterberg, which I think we can all agree is an upgrade, even if Hank is only at 80%. Does anyone actually believe that if Zetterberg wasn't ready to go tonight that Jurco would be the odd man out before Andersson? Not likely. Therefore, Hank in replace of Jurco and Bert in replace of Andy.

This! Although at this point I wouldn't mind seeing Tatar sit a game instead of Jurco with all the penalties he has been taking. Tats needs to calm down.

[WingedWheel91 271]

So how does everyone feel about Todd Bertuzzi tonight?

WOW - are you guys kidding me? Have you not watched or understood our offensive struggles this entire series?

Between our constant turnovers, abysmal forecheck, and lack of any sort of net front presence (see our PP%) our team - for the first time in a long time - has looked VERY young. Quite simply, our roster in games 2/3 (w/o Alfreddson who does make a difference) cannot compete with the Bruins. I understand Jurco is a very quick and talented player, but quickness and talent wont translate into offensive success when your chasing the cycle around each shift. Bertuzzi immediately helps the forecheck, immediately helps the PP and most importantly provides a veteran presence to this line of youngsters.

I know he is not the saviour (I think we already know who that is) but I'm wondering why people who have watched this team play all series, are upset about this change. You can't remove any of the penalty killers and you aren't taking Legwand out... I hope Bert destroys Marchand tonight and finally earns us some respect (just count the cheapshots),

[Nev 1,085]

This! Although at this point I wouldn't mind seeing Tatar sit a game instead of Jurco with all the penalties he has been taking. Tats needs to calm down.

I was gunna say, the OP spelt Tatar wrong. Not just the penalties, but constantly turning the puck over and too easily muscled off the puck.

I love Tats, but he's not found a groove at all in the first 3 games.

[Dabura 12,232]

I'm ok with this. Bert's a graybeard, he knows what's up, he's not going to be remotely intimidated, and hopefully that rubs off on others. Speed and skill is great, but we do need a heavy, someone who's not afraid to park his ass in front of Rask. And, credit where it's due, he's a goal scorer. Andersson is not a goal scorer.

There's also a funny bit of irony here: Bertuzzi in his prime basically paved the way for Lucic.

[MotorCityMadness 388]

Seems like this is just a message that is being sent to a young player that he needs to pick up his play. Don't forget, Jurco is only 21 yrs old and still developing.

[Wheelchairsuperhero 1,453]

And Franzen will continue to give minimal effort. Awesome. If they would have kept Jurco w/ Tatar and Sheahan, this wouldn't have been a problem.

This. As soon as he was taken off the kid line both him and Tatar looked worse (Tatar not as much).

[Mors 201]

Seems like a smart move, the Wings have had almost no net-front presence so far this series. I like Jurco's speed and energy, but realistically who else could they take out of the lineup? As much as he deserves it, Franzen is not getting benched.