Ten seconds remained in the season and Tyler Bertuzzi had just clanked a shot off a goal post. Sam Gagner got the puck, had an open net — and made a pass to Bertuzzi.
When Bertuzzi’s second attempt at 30 goals crossed the goal line on April 29 in Newark, New Jersey, his Detroit Red Wings teammates celebrated. Gagner, Moritz Seider and Danny DeKeyser were on the ice; Lucas Raymond was on the bench, raising his arms and jumping up and down. Dylan Larkin rejoiced from his sofa, unable to be in New Jersey after undergoing season-ending surgery 10 days earlier.
“I watched the game from home and I wanted to be there for that.,” Larkin said. “You look at the clip and the reaction on the bench after he scored his 30th goal, the smiles, guys are jumping up and down. That’s all you need to know about Tyler right there. He’s a great teammate, a great friend, and he works his butt off. He comes to the rink and works and plays hard, sticks up for his teammates, and this year he scored a lot of big goals. He had a really, really good year. It’s a pleasure to play with him.”
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It was the final game of the season, and something positive to cherish amid the disappointment of a sixth consecutive season with no playoff run. Gagner could have gone for the goal himself, but everyone on the team knew Bertuzzi was one shy of his first 30-goal season, and it meant more to the veteran forward to get an assist on the milestone.
“He’s a a great teammate, he competes really hard, and he had a great year,” Gagner said. “We knew he was on 29, and it was just one of those situations I think everyone was trying to feed him. He had a few chances throughout the game and then his reaction when he hit the post, with about 15 seconds left was pretty funny. Then he was able to put one in. Certainly a cool moment. Scoring 30 goals in this league is a really hard thing to do, so when you have a guy within distance, you want to try and help him out.”
Gagner expanded on why it mattered, and what it said about the Wings: “It’s a great group of guys. We have fun together, we want to see each other succeed. You want the last game of the season to be gearing up for playoffs, but when that doesn’t happen, there’s so many things to play for and playing for each other is one of them. You saw that in the reaction of guys when Bert was able to get his 30th. Guys are pulling for each other.”
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Bertuzzi, 27, caused frustration within the organization at the start of the season when he announced a “life decision” led him to not get vaccinated for COVID-19, which meant he could not play in the team’s nine games in Canada. The Wings didn’t pay Bertuzzi when his vaccine status prevented him from taking part in team activities, and he had to pay his own way to meet up with the team after staying home — for example, meeting them in New Jersey on April 28th following their visit to Toronto. Bertuzzi has established his importance to the lineup, recording 20-goal seasons in 2018-19 and 2019-20. (He had five goals in nine games last season before being sidelined by a back injury.)
When the Wings needed to spark the second line midway through this season, it was Bertuzzi’s addition that did the job. He is not a great skater, but he’s gritty and has a knack for being around the net. He showed growth as a playmaker this season, resulting in a career-high 32 assists.
Bertuzzi is entering a contract year, and general manager Steve Yzerman already has said he’d like to get Bertuzzi extended. He has proven he’s a 30-goal scorer, in 68 games, and how much he means to those in the locker room.
“That was my goal. Not really coming into the season but as the season wore on, I really wanted it,” Bertuzzi said. “My teammates played a big part in that and it was a special moment for me. To see the reaction was funny. It meant a lot to me that they cared that much and it was a good moment.”
Bertuzzi’s achievement is the 120th 30-goal season in franchise history, but just the fourth since the end of the 2008-09 season. That year, the Wings had four 30-goal scorers: Marian Hossa (40), Johan Franzen (34), Pavel Datsyuk (32) and Henrik Zetterberg (31). The four 30-goal seasons since: Bertuzzi, Andreas Athanasiou (30) in 2018-19 and Larkin this season (31) and in 2018-19 (32).
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.