Big Bert was the Difference

Emotion.

Good or bad, that's what Todd Bertuzzi has always been about. Love him, hate him, you can't ignore the guy's presence. Whether he's impressing you with a fantastic goal or disgusting you with a gutless play, he can't be overlooked. Such was the case in the Detroit-San Jose series.

Bertuzzi's level of play has always been a big factor in games. The only thing Bertuzzi does more than work harder than anybody is slack off more than anybody.

So, in Game 4, with the Wings trailing 3-0 in the series and looking as if they were about to go quietly, Devin Setoguchi did the dumbest thing he could possibly do: ticked off Big Bert. And as they would later say during the intermission, you don't wanna make Todd Bertuzzi mad. After a hit, a broken up scrum, and an exchange while on benches, Bertuzzi responded with a spin-o-rama goal that, had the Red Wings pulled off a game 7 victory, would have likely been remembered as the turning point in the series.

Granted, it's not all that easy to see exactly where Bertuzzi helped from there. But we do know some things. Bertuzzi certainly showed a physical presence in the series from that point forward. His big hits changed a lot. In fact, the Red Wings suddenly appeared to shockingly be the physically dominant team. Clearly, Bertuzzi was fired up. And there's a funny thing about that kind of attitude.

It spreads really quickly.

All of a sudden, bang! It went from a Sharks series to a Red Wings series in the blink of an eye. The Red Wing Invincibility seemed to have returned. The Wings rallied back for three in a row, showing themselves to clearly be the better team. Heading into game 7, it looked like it was Detroit who had a stranglehold on the series.

And then came game 7. And in the first period, Big Bert was taken out of the game due to injury. All of sudden, bang! The Sharks came roaring back. Poor officiating and 1st period miscues by the Red Wings had their effect on the outcome. But consider: if Bertuzzi were in, he would've minimized the cheap shots taken by the Sharks in the first place. And it's likely that his departure was a big reason that the miscues occurred.

I'm not sure if any man in the NHL has ever attracted a larger combined amount of hate, liking, frustration (from both supporters and opponents), and awe than #44 of the Red Wings. In this series, Bert was the Red Wing hero, and his departure left them too crushed to carry on. Of course, with the series over, it's obvious that we are now going to hear more about whether "this is it" for the older Red Wing players. Bertuzzi is, in fact among that group in discussion.

Bertuzzi gone? Really? Well, I'm sure the only group of NHL fans larger than those who love him and want to see him continue are those who despise him and hope that he leaves.