CHICAGO — There’s no player who makes the Detroit Red Wings smile quite like Tyler Bertuzzi — and they miss him when he can’t be in their lineup.
He’s their leading scorer, but it’s the way he scores that makes those around him laugh. His team-leading sixth goal didn’t even involve a shot on net — the puck went off Bertuzzi’s skates, then off two Blackhawks, and into Chicago’s net.
“He’s one of my favorite players to watch,” linemate Dylan Larkin said after the 6-3 victory at United Center. “He goes to the right areas and the hard areas and plays the game hard and plays the game the right way and has that big smile.”
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Bertuzzi scored four times in the season opener, and has goals in three of five games.
“He’s good at a lot of things out there,” rookie linemate Lucas Raymond said. “Scoring goals, skating — he’s really fun to play with.”
The Wings (3-2-1) suffered their worst loss of the season Oct. 23 at Montreal, losing 6-1. Bertuzzi wasn’t in the lineup, because his decision not to get the COVID-19 vaccine means that under current border regulations, he cannot travel to Canada. The Wings head to Canada again later this week, to play Saturday at Toronto and Nov. 1 at Montreal.
Wings general manager Steve Yzerman said before the season began that Bertuzzi had opted not to get the vaccine. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said that league-wide only four players were not vaccinated.
Bertuzzi will soon be in a club of one, as the others have come around.
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“We believe there is only one active player in the NHL who has not commenced the vaccination process,” deputy commissioner Bill Daly told the Free Press on Monday. In a 32-team league with 23-man rosters, that would make Bertuzzi the only one of 736 players.
The NHL and Players Association agreed not to have a vaccine mandate, but teams can suspend without pay players who miss team activities because they are unvaccinated. People within the Wings organization say there is no indication Bertuzzi will change his mind. He has referred to his decision as “a life choice.”
The Wings play nine times in Canada, meaning Bertuzzi stands to miss nearly 11% of games. He stayed in Detroit and skated on his own during the Wings’ first foray to Montreal and then met the Wings in Chicago. On the next trip, he will miss two games and one practice, and be responsible for meeting the team in Boston. Their longest trip to Canada comes in mid-March, when they will be gone a week while playing at Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.
There’s no doubting how much it means to the Wings to have him available.
“I think the world of Tyler as a person and as a player,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “He does so many things that are important to win. He’s a hard player. He wins pucks. He’s smart. He’s good defensively. He goes to the net hard and ultimately that was what that was an example of. We’re a better team for sure when Tyler is in the lineup and it was good to have him back.”
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.