Ex-NHLer Todd Bertuzzi Is Coming Out Of Retirement And Will Turn To Competitive Hockey
Bertuzzi last played in the American Hockey League during the 2014-15 season
Todd Bertuzzi hadn't played pro hockey since the 2014-15 NHL season when he played a pair of games in the AHL for the Binghamton Senators (a team now known as the Belleville Senators), and hasn't played in the NHL season since he spent the 2013-14 season with the Detroit Red Wings.
However, at age 50, he's putting his skates back on and for some competitive hockey.
It was announced this week that the veteran of 1,159 NHL games has signed a one-year deal with the Allan Cup Hockey League's Cambridge Hornets, and according to Daily Faceoff, he will also serve as the coach of the Cambridge Redhawks, a junior team that plays in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League.
The ACHL is considered a senior AAA league. It's not a professional league, but it's still a competitive, high-level brand of hockey.
If you're familiar with the show Shoresy, the Sudbury Blueberry Bulldogs are a fictional senior AAA team.
Todd Bertuzzi will return to competitive hockey this season after a decade away. (Photo by Noah Graham/NHLI via Getty Images)
Bertuzzi played for a bunch of teams throughout his NHL career, but his time with the Vancouver Canucks is what people are likely most familiar with. There, he was a member of the West Coast Express alongside Brendan Morrison and Marcus Naslund.
"I believe it’s like riding a bike," Bertuzzi said in a press conference. "Obviously, there’s going to be a lot of younger guys, faster guys and all that. I respect the league and I respect what they’re doing. I’m not coming back as a carnival. I feel healthy enough to play, and I’d love to come play with them and help them win a championship."
Despite a stellar NHL career, Bertuzzi is likely best remembered by most fans for the horrific on-ice incident in which he attacked the Colorado Avalanche's Steve Moore after trying to start a fight with him. Bertuzzi sucker-punched Moore, who was knocked unconscious and fell to the ice, with Bertuzzi falling on top of him. Several other players then piled on top of him.
This all ended with Moore sustaining three fractured vertebrae in his neck, cuts to his face, and a concussion.
The incident ended Moore's pro career, led to an assault charge for Bertuzzi, and a civil case that was settled in 2014.