When looking into the future on the Pens blue line who are some of the names you think of immediately? Letang. Maatta. Dumoulin. Harrington. Samuelsson. Not many people immediately think of Robert Bortuzzo. We will never understand why. In his limited amount of time this year Bortuzzo has proven he can hang with the NHL's elite. Sans 1 or 2 bad games here and there Bortuzzo has had a very good season to date. His best game may have came last night against the Ottawa Senators. Or maybe it was the game against Toronto where he did acid off of a unicorn and almost ended Jerry D'Amigo. Regardless you can go back to each game Robert Bortuzzo has played this season and pick out unlimited things he did well, sans 1 or 2 games like we said. The only reason he doesn't play more is the simple fact that Kris Letang, Olli Maatta, Matt Niskanen, Rob Scuderi, Paul Martin, and Brook Orpik are all better than him when healthy and playing to their full potential. But. Even though he is the 7th defenseman may Robert Bortuzzo be the most valuable? Friend to the blog Lauryn King, yes Andrew's sister, gives us 5 reasons why he may be and why keeping Robert Bortuzzo around for years to come is a really good idea.
Why the Penguins Should Keep Robert Bortuzzo
1 He is
the Chris Kunitz of defense.
Before you argue that this
statement doesn’t even make sense, let me explain. Chris Kunitz is the type of player that every
center wants on their wing. Why? Because he makes everyone he’s playing with a
better player. Robert Bortuzzo is like
that, but with his defensive partner. We
saw it at the beginning of the season when he was paired with Olli Maatta. Maatta saw some of his better games and
seemed like he played better/smarter hockey with Bortuzzo as his partner. Brooks Orpik is another prime example. Brooks Orpik should be the one that makes
Bortuzzo look better, right? Well in the
situation where Paul Martin was absent, Bortuzzo saw some ice time with
Orpik. Orpik appeared to play smarter,
better hockey when he was paired with Bortuzzo as opposed to when he was paired
with someone like Simon Despres or Deryk Engelland. Many can argue that a traffic cone, or better
yet, Cardboard Brooks Orpik could play better hockey than Orpik at times, and
while that is true, it is hard to argue that he looked good during his short
time with Bortuzzo. Even Deryk Engelland
looks better on defense when paired with Bortuzzo, and that is something that
is hard to even imagine.
2 He
has the capability to be a shutdown type of guy
While Bortuzzo is a different type of
shutdown defenseman than someone like Rob Scuderi, he still has the ability to
be a good shutdown guy. He has proven
himself to be able to shutdown some of the top players when the Penguins played
against the Washington Capitals when Dan Bylsma had him shift for shift with
Alex Ovechkin. For majority of the game,
Bortuzzo kept Ovechkin off of the scoreboard. While Ovechkin tallied a goal in
that game, it came from a bizarre penalty kill where Bylsma had three defensemen
out on the ice. Bortuzzo tried to work
the puck out of the corner, where he had no help to get the puck out. Brooks Orpik stepped up to cover Ovechkin and
Bortuzzo took the spot covering the point.
Bortuzzo went down to block the shot from the point, which was expected,
when the pass to Ovechkin occurred. Orpik forgot how to play defense and
Bortuzzo hustled from his spot at the point to try and pick up Ovechkin before
he got the shot off. Ovechkin being
Ovechkin got the shot off before Bortuzzo got there, which led to the goal.
3 He’s
a rare type player
Let me explain. In hockey, there are so many Letang’s and
Maatta’s. By this, I mean that there are
many offensive defensemen. There are
also many Scuderi’s, the strictly defense, shutdown type of defenseman. Robert Bortuzzo is a rare breed that you
don’t see a whole lot of and I’m not even sure what to call him. He plays smart defensive hockey, but he has
shown he can play smart offensive hockey as well. Bortuzzo is the guy that knows where
everybody is on the ice, and I mean everybody for both teams playing. He knows where the puck is, and even seems to
know where the puck is going to be played, which he showed last night in
overtime against the Ottawa Senators.
Bortuzzo drove into the slot just as Malkin made a beautiful pass. Bortuzzo took the shot, which Anderson
somehow managed to stop when James Neal picked up the rebound and put it in the
net. That particular play also shows
that Bortuzzo has a knack for knowing when it’s appropriate to pinch in and
when he needs to stay back. When in the
offensive zone, he makes smart plays. He
knows when to shoot and also knows when he needs to make the pass, regardless
of having a shot or not (i.e. Like when he set Kunitz up for a beautiful
goal). Bortuzzo also is a physical player,
which the Pens seem to lack (with no offense to Tanner Glass, who is physical
at times, but appears to play more physically when Bortuzzo is in the
lineup). The problem with a physical
player is that most of them hit just like to hit (i.e. Brooks Orpik). Bortuzzo is physical, but he plays it
smart. He knows when to hit and is
always making sure he’s not taking himself out of the play, unlike Orpik who
makes hits and takes himself out of the play quite frequently. Bortuzzo also knows when to fight and when to
just let the scrum die, and he’s not afraid to stick up for his teammates, such
as last night against the Senators where he got into a fight with Zach Smith
not long after Smith had boarded Malkin.
To summarize, Bortuzzo is a defensive, physical, shutdown player who
also has skill and patience with the puck in the offensive zone. Having a player like Bortuzzo on the blue
line could make or break the Penguins in the playoffs.
4 His
attitude
Bortuzzo probably has one of the
best attitudes of anyone on the entire team.
Despite being scratched for weeks at a time, he stays positive. He knows that it’s tough with the defensive
depth the Penguins have, but he doesn’t let being scratched bother him. He continues to put in extra work every
practice after practice. He works hard
and it shows. He can sit for weeks at a
time, play a game, and look like he never even left the lineup. The organization seems to love his attitude,
and the players always have nothing but great things to say about him. Even Dan Bylsma has had nothing but positive
things to say about Bortuzzo as of late.
When Bylsma says “jump” Bortuzzo asks “how high?”
5 He is
a silent leader
You all probably think that this
makes no sense and that Bortuzzo isn’t exactly “leader” material. I agree with that. By saying he is a silent leader, I simply
mean that he is a player that when in the lineup, dictates how the game is
going to go. We saw this against the
Kings. When Bortuzzo is in the lineup,
the Pens aren’t afraid to use their speed and natural talent. This is because of Bortuzzo’s physical
presence. Without someone like him in
the lineup, other teams use their physicality against the Penguins and they
tend to slow their game and play sloppy hockey.
The game against the Kings was probably one of the most solid, all
around games the Penguins have played in awhile.
Go Pens
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