Update - Yzerman had hinted at this in his zoom call, Tyler Bertuzzi has been signed for 2 years with a 4.75m AAV (4.25yr 1 5.25 yr2). The dollars in year 2 indicate that he could end up on a long term deal at or above Larkin’s 6.1m on his next extension. This seems like a win for Bert and the team. He gets a chance to move past a season lost to injury and gets a decent salary bump. Bertuzzi is a “heart and soul” player, and was sorely missed.
UPDATE: The Detroit #RedWings today re-signed left wing Tyler Bertuzzi to a two-year contract.
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 31, 2021
I posted Yzerman’s Zoom call yesterday. It was a good 27 minutes of understanding a little bit about how “The Captain” sees this team. He mentioned a healthy Bertuzzi, and will name drop Lucas Raymond here and there. It’s got me very anxious to see last year’s first round pick in action during training camp.
I hope you enjoy video, because there’s been a lot of it lately. This episode of the Winged Wheel (s3., ep1) got me excited. First, seeing Lidstrom chime in about European scouting has me even more exciting about Edvinsson. It sounds like Nick is doing work with and for the organization over seas. If Nick likes a defenseman, it’s hard for me not to like them as well.
Apart from that, it reminded me of what we’ve lost with the shutdown. I was 24 before I saw my first RedWings game at the Joe. Tickets were just that tough to get, especially when you’re broke. My wife and I were taken to a game and shocked when we found ourselves in the lower bowl (11th row I think). The face value on those tickets was around $150. A season ticket holder had given 4 tickets to a friend. The whole thing was magical. There was this excitement in your gut, just walking in. This would have been around 2002. People would buy season tickets just to resell them at a profit back then. Sometimes a really healthy profit. It was so special to be there.
In this episode, you see fans gathering to watch the draft. Drew Miller was on stage commenting with Ken Kal and others. It was a glimpse of how much fun things used to be. I’ll admit, the shut down took me out at the knees a bit. Many of you know that I deal with depression linked to a head injury. When it rains, everything shuts down. I just have to wear a blindfold and wait it out. Little bits of joy help take the edge of sometimes. And, for the most part, the joys that we looked forward to have been harder and harder to come by. I’m more cynical than I ever was. I forgot how much a “party” at the rink can lift your spirits. Even if for just 2 hours, everything just feels good.
I hope this episode can restore some of what seems to be missing for a lot of us. I know there are people on this board who were at “The Joe” in 97 during the playoffs. That insane time just seems so far away. The 98 “do it for Vladdie” cup. The 2002 “how many hall of famers can you squeeze onto one team” cup. The 2008 “Euro Twins” cup. Each one was special, and someone reading this was there for some part of it. I hope you tell those stories over a cup of coffee as many times as you can in this lifetime.
Seeing young faces put on the Winged Wheel after their names are called. Watching Moritz Seider’s response as he’s picked way sooner than anyone thought. Seeing the number 19 on those red jerseys in Yzerman’s first draft as Wings GM. All of it gives a small glimpse into how much fun this used to be. Giving high 5’s to strangers when a goal was scored. Eating popcorn that tastes weird because of the smell of the ice. Watching 20k people stand up together and cheer. My God, it was amazing.
There’s this tiny bit of optimism that I’m trying to hold back. I feel good about this year’s team. I think the team is starting to feel good about itself. There could be moments of decent runs. This year could actually be fun at times. Yes, there’s a long way to go. But, Yzerman has come a long way already. The last players from the cup team in ‘08 are departed (Helm and Filppula). It’s all new (in some cases really new). I hope that the video gives you some of that old feeling that seems miles away at times. It’s been far too long since we could just sit back and enjoy ourselves. Hopefully, this year will have several moments like that.
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