SB Nation Detroit - NHL Playoffs 2011: Red Wings Beat Coyotes, 4-2, To Take Game 1 Of Serieshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48919/detroit-fave.png2011-04-14T22:23:04-04:00http://detroit.sbnation.com/rss/stream/18725602011-04-14T22:23:04-04:002011-04-14T22:23:04-04:00From Boos To Chants: Todd Bertuzzi Earns Highest Praise From Red Wings Fans
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<img alt="DETROIT, MI - MARCH 30: Todd Bertuzzi #44 of the Detroit Red Wings celebrates a first-period goal with the bench while playing the St. Louis Blues at Joe Louis Arena on March 30, 2011 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VeDF677NFFqWrZYsYNRHIcTPAuY=/0x49:901x650/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/2314429/GYI0064137877.jpg" />
<figcaption>DETROIT, MI - MARCH 30: Todd Bertuzzi #44 of the Detroit Red Wings celebrates a first-period goal with the bench while playing the St. Louis Blues at Joe Louis Arena on March 30, 2011 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) | Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>More often than not, Todd Bertuzzi isn't a fan favorite when he steps on the ice in an NHL arena. However, Bertuzzi got the ultimate treatment from the home crowd on Wednesday after his physical play got the Red Wings going again.</p> <p>A lot of things are heard from the crowd at Joe Louis Arena during a <a href="https://www.wingingitinmotown.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Detroit Red Wings</a> game, whether it's in October or June. There's no party like a Detroit party, and the fans at the Joe put on one of the best on a nightly basis.</p>
<p>Red Wings fans are always getting into the spirit of the game, whether it's finishing off the 'South Detroit' line of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" or humming along to "Sweet Caroline." </p>
<p>But a "<span>Todd Bertuzzi</span>" chant? Rarely does something like that happen at the Joe.</p>
<p>Despite the team's wild popularity, there are few times when a player gets his name chanted by the crowd. <span>Chris Osgood</span>'s "Ozzie" chant after a big save is perhaps the one exception, but Osgood doesn't play as much as he used to. Stars like <span>Nicklas Lidstrom</span>, <span>Pavel Datsyuk</span> and <span>Henrik Zetterberg</span> don't even get the treatment like what Bertuzzi got on Wednesday. </p>
<p>Bertuzzi got the crowd behind him after taking on Phoenix's <span>Rostislav Klesla</span> during the second period of the Red Wings' playoff opener against the <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/teams/phoenix-coyotes" class="sbn-auto-link">Coyotes</a>. Klesla and Bertuzzi came together near the boards and then dropped the gloves in one of the shorter fights in NHL history as Bertuzzi lost his balance and fell as soon as Klesla grabbed a hold of him. Bertuzzi still managed to get a shot in after the fall, sending the <a href="http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2011/04/red_wings_todd_bertuzzi_apprec.html">home crowd into a frenzy.</a> The chant surfaced again later in the third period when Bertuzzi got his helmet knocked off, forcing him to skate around helmet-less like he was playing in the 1970s for a few moments.</p>
<p>Needless to say, Bertuzzi was a bit stunned. He estimated it was at least seven years since he had an entire arena behind him like that:</p>
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<p>"It was pretty cool," Bertuzzi said. "Probably better if it was after a goal. It was neat. Great fans here. When we get that kind of response, guys respond and play hard."</p>
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<p>The score was tied at one at that point during the game. Detroit responded by scoring the next three goals en route to a 4-2 win. Pavel Datsyuk may have had the best quote of the night describing how Bertuzzi's fight flipped the tables on the Coyotes:</p>
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<p>"After this fight, game flip our way," Pavel Datsyuk said. "Momentum."</p>
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<p>Bertuzzi's game has changed in the past couple of weeks as he has gone to a more physical approach. On April 2 against Nashville, Bertuzzi exchanged fisticuffs with the <a href="https://www.ontheforecheck.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Predators</a>' Shane O'Brien twice as the Red Wings trailed that game 3-0 early. After Bertuzzi's second fight, the Red Wings scored three straight goals and eventually won in overtime.</p>
<p>Still, a "Todd Bertuzzi" chant? It's a far cry from what the man is used to getting.</p>
<p>Bertuzzi is usually booed at most arenas and is vilified at every opportunity. Most of that stems from his involvement in the Steve Moore incident eight years ago, which ended Moore's career and resulted in one of the longest suspensions in NHL history for Bertuzzi. Bertuzzi immediately became a "goon" across the league.</p>
<p>Wherever the man went, people hated him. Earlier this season, a certain <a href="https://www.hockeywilderness.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Minnesota Wild</a> blog encouraged fans to boo Bertuzzi every time he was on the ice during his 1000th career game. Bertuzzi had to change his game as a result, essentially taking the physicality out of it to avoid another incident. </p>
<p>But Bertuzzi has never been even close to a Marty McSorley or <span>Matt Cooke</span> type of player. He's always had skill and can contribute to a team, and fans in Detroit are starting to embrace that in his second go-around in the Motor City.</p>
<div>Flash forward to Wednesday night. With 20,000 rabid Wings fans anxiously watching an intense 1-1 playoff game, Bertuzzi took action after his team had been plagued with penalty trouble in the first half of the game. Some of the calls were questionable and the Coyotes seemed to be getting away with a few. Bertuzzi had enough and took a stand. The crowd noticed.</div>
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<p>George Malik over at <a href="http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/tmr/comments/red_wings-coyotes_game_1_recap/">Kukla's Korner</a> theorized that when Bertuzzi didn't get suspended for elbowing Chicago's <span>Ryan Johnson</span> earlier in the month, it lifted a weight off his shoulders and reintroduced the physicality to Bertuzzi's game:</p>
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<p>The fact that Bertuzzi wasn't suspended for hitting Ryan Johnson-who he apologized to after leaving his feet and charging the <a href="https://www.secondcityhockey.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Blackhawks</a> forward earlier this month-seems to have lifted a ten-thousand pound weight from his shoulders. He's realized that the NHL will allow him to play physical hockey within the bounds of its rules again, and he's become so much more effective over the past couple of weeks that it's silly.</p>
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<p><span style="line-height: 16px;">Whatever happened to Bertuzzi seems to be working well. If that is indeed the case, it may not be the last of the "Todd Ber-tu-zzi" cheer at the Joe.</span></p>
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https://detroit.sbnation.com/detroit-red-wings/2011/4/14/2111555/red-wings-todd-bertuzz-chant-nhl-playoffsRyan Weiss2011-04-13T21:47:43-04:002011-04-13T21:47:43-04:00NHL Playoffs 2011 Scores: Red Wings Take Game 1 Of Series Against Coyotes, 4-2
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<p>Game 1 of the series between the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.wingingitinmotown.com/">Red Wings</a> and Coyotes is in the books, and Detroit holds a 1-0 advantage thanks to a 4-2 win on Wednesday night. The Red Wings went down early in the game, but they battled back with four straight goals for an eventual 4-2 victory.</p>
<p>The Red Wings did not exactly start off the 2011 NHL playoffs like they had hoped. The first period of this game included a <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/teams/phoenix-coyotes">Phoenix Coyotes</a> goal only 2:16 in and a total of four penalties on the Red Wings. Detroit looked sloppy, although they managed to weather the storm and didn't give up a power-play goal. <span>Jimmy Howard</span> played particularly well on the four penalty kills, and for the Wings to only be trailing 1-0 after one period was a moral victory.</p>
<p>In the second period, all of the momentum shifted in the Red Wings' favor, starting with a couple of huge saves by Howard on another penalty kill. His saves helped the Red Wings kill the penalty, and shortly after it expired the Coyotes' <span>Martin Hanzal</span> went to the box. The Wings' puck control was outstanding, and although they didn't manage to score on the power play, the great shift resulted in a <span>Pavel Datsyuk</span> wraparound goal just as the teams returned to even strength. Five minutes later, <span>Johan Franzen</span> put one past <span>Ilya Bryzgalov</span> with an absolute snipe, and six minutes after that, <span>Brian Rafalski</span> scored from near the blue line on a power play to put the Red Wings up by a score of 3-1.</p>
<p>In the third period, <span>Jiri Hudler</span> got into the clear coming down the left side of the ice thanks to a tremendous pass from <span>Drew Miller</span>. Hudler, like Franzen, scored on a snipe, putting the puck on the top shelf to give the Wings a three-goal lead. <span>Radim Vrbata</span> cut the lead to two goals by slipping one past Howard at the 7:38 mark, but that was it for the scoring. Howard made a few more big saves, and really the best scoring chance in the final minutes was Dan Cleary missing an empty-netter at the end, keeping the score 4-2 when the final horn sounded.</p>
<p>Detroit will take a 1-0 series lead into Game 2, which will be played on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Joe Louis Arena. NBC will have the broadcast of this game as the Wings look to run the series lead to 2-0 before having to head west to Arizona next week.</p>
https://detroit.sbnation.com/detroit-red-wings/2011/4/13/2109911/nhl-playoffs-2011-scores-red-wings-coyotes-seriesSean Yuille2011-04-13T12:37:05-04:002011-04-13T12:37:05-04:00NHL Playoffs 2011, Red Wings Vs. Coyotes: Game 1 Preview
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<p>As a sports fan, there are a lot of great times of the year: the start of college football season, bowl games all day on New Year's, the NCAA tournament and all of the madness that comes along with it and baseball season beginning with opening day.</p>
<p>All of these things are great moments for sports fans, but I don't think any of them top the NHL playoffs. From now until June, playoff beards will be grown, late nights will be spent watching hockey on the west coast and towels will be waved as fans cheer on the their team.</p>
<p>For the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.wingingitinmotown.com/">Detroit Red Wings</a>, this is the 20th straight year they are taking part in this annual tradition, and quite honestly it's tough to think of anything better than watching the Winged Wheel in the playoffs. Tonight their journey for a 12th Stanley Cup will begin with Game 1 of their first-round series against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/teams/phoenix-coyotes">Phoenix Coyotes</a>. We have already taken a look at a <a href="http://detroit.sbnation.com/detroit-red-wings/2011/4/12/2105190/nhl-playoffs-2011-preview-red-wings-vs-coyotes">preview of the series</a>, so let's examine Game 1 specifically.</p>
<p>Red Wings coach Mike Babcock has established the lineup for tonight's game. We already knew that <span>Henrik Zetterberg</span> <a href="http://detroit.sbnation.com/detroit-red-wings/2011/4/13/2108020/henrik-zetterberg-injury-coyotes-series">wasn't going to be in it</a>, so the big news today is that <span>Mike Modano</span> is a healthy scratch. <span>Jakub Kindl</span> is also a healthy scratch, which means <span>Niklas Kronwall</span> will be in the lineup. <a href="http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2011/04/mike_modano_is_healthy_scratch.html">Via Ansar Khan</a>, here it is:</p>
<p>Johan Franzen-Pavel Datsyuk-Tomas Holmstrom<br>Dan Cleary-Justin Abdelkader-Todd Bertuzzi<br>Jiri Hudler-Valtteri Filppula-<span class="sbn-auto-link">Drew Miller</span><br>Kris Draper-Darren Helm-Patrick Eaves<br>Mike Modano (scratched)<br><br>Nicklas Lidstrom-Brad Stuart<br>Jonathan Ericsson-Brian Rafalski<br>Niklas Kronwall-<span class="sbn-auto-link">Ruslan Salei</span><br>Jakub Kindl (scratched)<br><br><span class="sbn-auto-link">Jimmy Howard</span><br><span class="sbn-auto-link">Joey MacDonald</span><br><span class="sbn-auto-link">Chris Osgood</span></p>
<p>Phoenix will be <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/cmccosky/status/58204201355968512">without defenseman Derek Morris</a> tonight because of an upper-body injury. Coyotes coach Dave Tippett will give his spot to either <span>David Schlemko</span> or <span>Oliver Ekman-Larsson</span>.</p>
https://detroit.sbnation.com/2011/4/13/2333385/nhl-playoffs-2011-red-wings-vs-coyotes-game-1-previewSean Yuille