Bertuzzi proving he's 'made for playoffs' with Bruins in East 1st Round

BOSTON -- Tyler Bertuzzi was bent over on the bench.

He had just gotten a high-stick to the mouth and had made his way back to the Grand Rapids bench during a regular-season American Hockey League game perhaps half a dozen years ago. What happened next is something Todd Nelson, then coach of Grand Rapids, never had seen before.
"I want you to know what kind of guy Tyler Bertuzzi is as a hockey player," Nelson said. "He got hit in the mouth with a stick and he came off the ice, he's on the bench, and the referee started to come over and see if he was bleeding.
"He put his head down and he bit his tongue so he was bleeding. We ended up getting an extra two minutes on the power play. So that kind of explains things right there."
For his part, Bertuzzi would neither confirm nor deny the story, saying "I don't remember it, but I don't doubt it."
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But that is why, when Bertuzzi grabbed the stick of Florida Panthers forward Nick Cousins, hijacking it and holding it hostage all the way to and onto the Boston Bruins bench in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round between the Bruins and the Panthers, there was at least one person who was not at all surprised.
"I've seen that move before," said Nelson, now coach of Hershey of the AHL.
Nelson coached Bertuzzi for three seasons with Grand Rapids, so nothing that has happened so far in the best-of-7 first round series between the Bruins and Panthers, led by the Bruins 3-1, has been all that surprising. Because while Game 1 marked Bertuzzi's introduction to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it was far from his first experience of postseason hockey.
The forward, who was traded to the Bruins by the Detroit Red Wings on March 2, helped Grand Rapids win the Calder Cup championship in 2017, and won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as most valuable player of the AHL playoffs after he had 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists) in 19 games.
"When we acquired him, we thought he was a guy that was made for the playoffs," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said.
He wasn't wrong. In his first four games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Bertuzzi has six points (two goals, four assists), including a goal and an assist in the Bruins' 6-2 win in Game 4 on Sunday. He will get a chance to extend that run Wednesday when the teams face off in Game 5 of the series at TD Garden (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, CBC, SN, TVAS, NESN, BSFL).
"It seems like every time playoffs roll around, he elevates his game to a whole different level," Nelson said.

It was a message that Nelson passed along to close friend Montgomery -- Nelson was an assistant on Montgomery's staff with the Dallas Stars -- when the Bruins acquired Bertuzzi.
"He just said, you're going to love him," Montgomery said. "He's a hockey player. He's greasy, he's hard, he's smart. And everything that Todd said he was, he is. I don't think he plays as greasy and hard in the regular season, but no one does. But to see a guy that has the ability to just raise his level of intensity … it's impressive."
When Nelson would try to discuss it with Bertuzzi, to find out why, the forward mostly shrugged, saying he just got excited for the playoffs. Nelson always wished there was a concrete explanation for what changed.
"I wish I could," he said about figuring out what it was. "Because I'd try to pull it out of him during the regular season, right? But no, I just think he shines in those situations. He relishes the challenges. He gets very excited to play in the playoffs because it means so much. That's what we're seeing this year."
Bertuzzi's Calder Cup-winning season nearly came to a premature end when he almost missed Game 6 of the final against Syracuse.
The forward had gotten into a fight in Game 5 and his hand got infected. He was a game-time decision. The hand was taped. He was on antibiotics. But the whole time, Nelson knew there was no way Bertuzzi wasn't playing.
He scored the game-tying goal in the third period, and Grand Rapids clinched the championship with a 4-3 victory.
"He was a pretty quiet guy off the ice," Nelson said. "He was a good teammate and everything. … Just has a calm demeanor about himself. He gets on the ice, it's like a fire has been lit underneath him."
But when he became a full-time NHL player with the Red Wings during the 2017-18 season, Bertuzzi had no opportunity to display his playoff prowess. Detroit never made the playoffs in his time there, and it took a trade -- one that almost didn't happen -- for Bertuzzi to reach the postseason.

Injuries to Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno in back-to-back games at the end of February were what allowed the Bruins to find the spot and the space under the salary cap to acquire Bertuzzi.
And what allowed him to return to playoff hockey.
"This is everyone's dream when you play in the NHL, to chase this trophy," Bertuzzi said. "You can't take these moments for granted."
His teammates, too, have embraced him.
"He's one of those guys that you really don't want to play against [but] love having him on your team," said Bruins forward Brad Marchand, who also fits that category. "He's just sort of a competitive guy by nature. He's always in the mix, always in the battles, really, really gritty areas, and those are guys that are just frustrating to play against, even when he's not running around."
Nelson compared Bertuzzi to noted agitator Corey Perry, who Nelson coached with the Stars in 2019-20.
He's just that kind of guy. Especially in the playoffs.
"His hockey IQ is very high," Nelson said. "But when you couple that with his spiciness and his competitiveness, he's a tough player to play against.
"He does a bit of everything. He's not the most [elegant] skater, but he gets there and he finds a way to pick guys' pockets. Sometimes he gets out of control, or he looks like he's out of control, and all of a sudden he picks somebody's pocket and goes the other way. He's just a gamer, you know what I'm saying? I don't know how else to describe him."