<div class="articledate">Monday, September 24, 2007</div> <h1>How will Bertuzzi affect Ducks?</h1> <div class="byline">By DAN WOOD</div> <div class="source">The Orange County Register</div> Newly acquired Ducks winger Todd Bertuzzi arrived in Anaheim three weeks before the club reported to training camp Sept. 10. His reputation showed up sooner than that.</p> Fairly or not, the gifted 6-foot-3, 230-pound Bertuzzi is dogged by questions, almost certainly more than any other NHL player. The Hockey News asked the following in a series of Top 10 questions in its Sept. 18 cover story:</p> "Will Todd Bertuzzi sink the Ducks?"</p> People who notice hockey only when an ugly or unfortunate event takes place know Bertuzzi from the 2004 incident when he drew a lengthy, NHL-imposed suspension and later pleaded guilty to an assault charge for punching then-Colorado center Steve Moore in the head from behind during a game. Those closer to the game raise other issues.</p> Bertuzzi, 32, is coming off Nov. 2 surgery for a herniated disk in his back that limited him to a combined 15 regular-season games with Florida and Detroit in 2006-07. Even in the new NHL, where punishment in front of the net is a far cry from what it used to be, there is concern as to whether Bertuzzi can withstand the physical demands necessary to play the type of game that made him an elite power forward with Vancouver the first half of this decade.</p> Less evident but potentially more damning are whispers about the complex elements Bertuzzi might bring to a locker room. The elusive commodity known as team chemistry, which the Ducks rode to a Stanley Cup championship last season, is critical to hockey success.</p> www.ocregister.com/sports/bertuzzi-team-character-1851370-guy-think</p>
