{"id":11438,"date":"2025-01-22T11:51:39","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T11:51:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=11438"},"modified":"2025-01-22T11:51:39","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T11:51:39","slug":"breaking-blackhawks-tyler-bertuzzi-is-kneeling-wheeling-and-dealing-his-way-to-more-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=11438","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Blackhawks\u2019 Tyler Bertuzzi is kneeling, wheeling and dealing his way to more goals"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"CHICAGO,<\/p>\n

CHICAGO \u2014 Blackhawks forward Tyler Bertuzzi blocked Dmitry Orlov\u2019s shot and then took the puck off his stick before contorting his body to get around the Carolina defenseman. Taking the puck in stride, Bertuzzi had 100 feet of open ice ahead of him.<\/p>\n

Now, Bertuzzi is hardly the fastest guy around, but nobody was catching him on this breakaway. He had all the time and space in the world as he barreled in on Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen.<\/p>\n

Too much time, it turned out. Too much space. Andersen calmly gloved Bertuzzi\u2019s simple wrist shot, leaving the score tied 3-3 late in the third period Monday night. It shouldn\u2019t have come as a surprise. For one thing, the Blackhawks never seem to score on breakaways.<\/p>\n

But, really, that\u2019s just not how Bertuzzi scores goals. He doesn\u2019t make moves. Doesn\u2019t dangle. Doesn\u2019t pick corners. Wrist shots? This guy barely even uses his wrists.<\/p>\n

The Blackhawks\u2019 leading scorer has found the back of the net 17 times this season, and only three of them have come from more than a few feet away. Bertuzzi is the human equivalent of the wall you practice tennis against, the rails on a pool table. The moment the Blackhawks gain the offensive blue line, Bertuzzi heads right to the net, standing on the lip of the crease, waiting for Connor Bedard or Teuvo Ter\u00e4v\u00e4inen to bank a puck in off of him \u2014 off his stick, off his leg, off his skate, whatever.<\/p>\n

It looks so simple. But if it were simple, everyone would do it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how to explain it, that\u2019s just what I\u2019ve always done,\u201d Bertuzzi said. \u201cIn Guelph (junior), in Grand Rapids (AHL), in (the NHL). When I\u2019ve been on the power play, I\u2019ve always been a net-front guy, so that\u2019s just the spot I like to be around. It\u2019s just the place I go. It feels weird for me to be on the wall or the half-wall. I just like to be around the net. I think it makes it easier for my linemates, just knowing that I\u2019ll be there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three of Bertuzzi\u2019s goals this season were off rebounds, including the one he bounced in off Andersen\u2019s backside on Monday. One was a one-timer from very close range. And a whopping 10 were goal-mouth redirects \u2014 his trademark.<\/p>\n

These aren\u2019t tip-ins, the mid-air, low-slot deflections you see players practice at the end of every morning skate, the kind that helped make Joe Pavelski and Chris Kreider household names. These are a little greasier, a little less glamorous. But they count all the same. And few can pull them off as well as Bertuzzi.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a special skill he has, so I\u2019m just trying to put it in an area, and he does the hard work,\u201d Bedard said.<\/p>\n

Bedard and Bertuzzi have connected for four such goals this season, while Ter\u00e4v\u00e4inen has teed up three of them. And these aren\u2019t feathery little backdoor passes they\u2019re sending Bertuzzi\u2019s way. They are coming in hot because the timing has to be precise to make it through the chaos in the goal mouth.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get a backdoor, you\u2019ve got to throw it pretty hard,\u201d Bedard said. \u201cGuys aren\u2019t giving up much time to put it there. (Bertuzzi\u2019s) telling me just rip it there, he\u2019ll try to make a play on it, and he does. It\u2019s impressive. It\u2019s a great skill to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

One trick Bertuzzi has picked up over the years is going down to one knee when the pass is on its way. Six of his 10 redirect goals have come with his knee on the ice. Not only does it give him a wider berth for more stability as a crease missile comes his way, but it gives him something of a backstop, too. Bertuzzi has extraordinary hand-eye coordination, but even he can\u2019t get the heart of his blade on the puck every time. If it bounces off his leg and goes in, hey, it still counts.<\/p>\n

Bertuzzi will even bend the rules a bit, using his skate. He often braces the blade of his stick with his skate, providing stability and strength while essentially doubling the surface area with which he can redirect the puck. It makes it all but impossible to determine if he used his stick or his skate to score. Besides, you\u2019re allowed to make a distinct kicking motion when you\u2019re kicking your own stick into the puck. His second goal in Saturday\u2019s win over Vegas was a prime example:<\/p>\n

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that's Bertuzzi's second goal on the power play tonight\ud83d\ude2e\u200d\ud83d\udca8 pic.twitter.com\/67nxK1nfgq<\/a><\/p>\n

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 19, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n