Dietz: Blackhawks need grizzled veterans like Bertuzzi

The youth movement taking place on the Blackhawks will be a major focus all season and has yielded some impressive early results.

It appears GM Kyle Davidson's vision — years in the making — might just lead to a lengthy run of sustained success.

But that doesn't mean we should ignore the grizzled veterans. They are the ones who need to step up on a consistent basis to take some of the pressure off Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, Artyom Levshunov and others if the Hawks want to grow and mature into a playoff team.

That's exactly what happened Wednesday night in Vancouver when Tyler Bertuzzi scored 3 goals in the third period to help lift the Hawks to a 5-2 victory. He followed that by scoring two more times in a 4-0 victory over Calgary on Friday.

Those 5 goals, plus another in Sunday’s 5-1 win over Detroit, lifted Bertuzzi's season total to 9, which ties for the team lead with Bedard, who also scored Sunday.

As we're watching the Hawks grow before our eyes, it can be easy to forget about guys like Bertuzzi, Andre Burakovsky, Ilya Mikheyev, Ryan Donato or the injured Jason Dickinson. That's probably because they're the hard-hat, lunch-bucket types who do all the little things that help teams become contenders.

Bertuzzi fits the bill across many of those categories, but he's also that tough guy who can put the puck in the net. Think Andrew Shaw without the dumb penalties.

“He's a guy you appreciate more from ice level more than you might from up top,” coach Jeff Blashill told reporters after the win over the Canucks. “You know, skating doesn't always look great — but, man, he wins pucks. That's kind of who he's always been for me.”

Bertuzzi might be the quietest 20-goal scorer in the league, accomplishing that feat five times in the last six seasons. He does it by parking his 6-foot-2, 200-pound rear end in front of the net.

On Wednesday, the Hawks and Canucks battled to a scoreless tie after two periods. It was anybody's game until Bertuzzi blew things open by notching his fourth career hat trick in 8.5 minutes.

The first goal came at 3:06 when he used his skate to deflect a pass from Matt Grzelcyk into the net. The next one came at 6:46 after Bertuzzi slyly slid behind Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen. With Lankinen totally focused on a fast-charging Bedard, the 20-year-old zipped a pass that Bertuzzi tapped in for another easy goal.

Total distance of those two shots? Probably five feet.

“He's great on that back post,” said Blashill, who coached Bertuzzi as a rookie in Detroit in 2016-17. “He's really learned over the years how to build a wall on that back post, and people shoot for it and they go in. It's a great way to score.”

So why doesn't everyone set up camp next to the goalie?

“I don't know,” a chuckling Bertuzzi said Friday. “I have a sore back — maybe that's why.”

Bertuzzi completed the hat trick at 11:37 by grabbing on a loose puck and shooting past a flailing Lankinen.

He then scored the opening two goals against Calgary to help lift the surprising Hawks to an 8-5-3 record after Sunday’s win in Detroit, which closed out a season-long six-game road trip.

The 30-year-old Bertuzzi has two years remaining on a contract that carries a $5.5 million cap hit. He's exactly the kind of player every team needs come playoff time — and that time looks to be arriving sooner rather than later for the Hawks.

As much as you all remember the big names who brought the city titles in 2010, '13 and '15, there were a dozen more who did all the little things that made them possible.

Shaw is a great example. As are Brad Richards, Kris Versteeg, Troy Brouwer, Andrew Ladd, Bryan Bickell and many more. They weren't always in the headlines — but they stepped up in key moments and did their part.

That's Bertuzzi. So zero in on No. 59 more closely next time you can. You'll come to appreciate all the little things he does to help a team win.

“I’ve been around Ty a long time,” Blashill said. “I’ll take him all day, every day on any team I ever coach. He’s a foxhole guy and you want him in your foxhole.

“He’ll stick up for himself, stick up for his teammates. He embodies what we want to be as a group.”

John Dietz, a sports writer at the Daily Herald from 1998-2024, covered the Blackhawks from 2014-24. You can reach him at jdietz6917@hotmail.com.