The Fan In Van Podcast & Blog - Matt Lee

In the sports media realm, it’s very easy for both writers and fans to be negative. The Vancouver Sun reported today all the negative feelings they had to Todd Bertuzzi, and friends of mine were quick to jump all over the Sudbury native with the utmost hatred. And perhaps, to some extent, for good reason: After all, it was a combined effort from both Bertuzzi and former coach Marc Crawford that led to the collapse of the West Coast Express empire, and ultimately a combination of both idiocy and laziness which led to Bertuzzi’s timely departure. But with all that being said, this Canuck fan still holds positive ties with Bertuzzi.

And perhaps the sudden re-capturing of Markus Naslund’s game is seemingly ironic; Naslund, who spent 99.9% of the time on the ice with Bertuzzi in the early 2000 years, lost his game after Bertuzzi departed. Now, he’s had a brilliant November which has allowed him to regain the confidence he lost when he lost Bertuzzi to a trade. Now the two will be playing as opponents for the first time since their Pittsburgh/Long Island days.

Todd Bertuzzi is a superstar, an enigma, an icon and an idiot all in one. It’s amazing to see two different kinds of Bertuzzi’s in the NHL; the one who was the best player in the NHL in 2003 and the one who is injury-riddled and mentally off his game in the present. Bertuzzi has yet to play a span of a full season since his breakout years and yet to put together a streak of goals post-Vancouver. How could this guy’s game fall off so dramatically?

Steve Moore. Marc Crawford. Media and fan expectations. The new NHL. The explanations are about as endless as the amount of damage the West Coast Express generated in its heyday.

How are fans going to react to Bertuzzi’s “homecoming”? Some say they’ll jeer, others say they’ll cheer. It’s hard to tell. Most likely we’ll see a mixed reaction.

But fans shouldn’t be judging Bertuzzi based on his last years as a Canuck alone. They should be judging Bertuzzi based on his career as a Canuck. No one could power his way through a defence quite like Bert. And no one could take on the ilk of Barret Jackman and Chris Chelios with his strength. And quite frankly, no one was quite as loved and hated like Todd Bertuzzi.