When Tyler Bertuzzi, nephew of former NHLer Todd Bertuzzi, was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in 2013, he was asked to compare himself to his uncle. Tyler immediately responded by saying, “I’m meaner.”
That’s saying a lot when your uncle’s biggest claim to fame was sucker-punching an opponent from behind, which subsequently led to suspensions, fines and years of legal action. But the Red Wings, who took Bertuzzi 58th overall in the second round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, liked the younger Betuzzi’s abilities as an agitator, along with his grittiness.
Fast forward and it appears as if Bertuzzi could be headed for a lengthy suspension by the AHL following an incident that occurred during a game last night between the Toronto Marlies and Bertuzzi’s Grand Rapids Griffins—the AHL affiliate of the Red Wings.
In the closing minutes of the game, with the Marlies enjoying a 6-1 lead, Bertuzzi attempted to engage Marlies forward Kasperi Kapanen in a fight. Kapanen wasn’t having any of it. After issuing a handful of jabs without any retaliation, Bertuzzi extended his leg around Kapanen and proceeded to blatantly slew-foot him to the ice, where Kapanen lay for several seconds before slowly getting up onto all fours when the video cuts out.
The league issued a statement saying that Bertuzzi has been suspended pending the league’s review of his actions, but video evidence of the play and his clear intention to slew-foot Kapanen very well may damn Bertuzzi to a long suspension.
Check out the video below and let us know how long you think is reasonable for the league to suspend Bertuzzi.
Tyler Bertuzzi with a disgusting slew-foot on Kasperi Kapanen during the Marlies/Griffins game in the AHL last night pic.twitter.com/4YsXn50Lw9
— Robert Söderlind (@HockeyWebCast) October 31, 2015
All the other Marlies on the ice should be suspended by the organization for not backing their guy up after the slew foot. Bertuzzi shouldn’t get suspended for Kapanen being light on his feet.