Blake says Bertuzzi earned Olympics spot

Aaron J. Lopez, Rocky Mountain News

Published December 27, 2005 at midnight

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If Team Canada decides to organize its Olympics locker room alphabetically, Colorado Avalanche defenseman Rob Blake and Vancouver Canucks forward Todd Bertuzzi will dress at adjacent stalls.

Despite Bertuzzi's ignominious history, Blake would be fine with such a setup.

"My whole thought is you take the best players available," Blake said Monday. "Todd Bertuzzi is one of the top forwards in the league. He deserves to be on that team."

There has been considerable debate about Bertuzzi's inclusion on Canada's roster.

He was suspended for the final 13 games of the 2003-04 season and the playoffs - Vancouver lost in the first round - for his on-ice attack against then-Avalanche forward Steve Moore on March 8, 2004.

Blake was on the bench when Bertuzzi sucker-punched Moore from behind. Moore still is recovering from broken vertebrae in his neck and post-concussion symptoms.

The Canucks and Avalanche have played six times this season without any retaliation from Colorado, and Blake said he does not expect to discuss the Moore attack with Bertuzzi during the Olympics in Turin, Italy.

"I don't know him (very well). I've played with him a couple times on world championship teams," Blake said. "It's not something we're going to talk about.

"As far as counting on him when I'm on the ice, yeah, I'm going to count on him; he's going to count on me. Same way as you would your own teammate (in the NHL)."

Asked if he could respect Bertuzzi after the assault, Blake said he did not anticipate a problem.

"I respect what he's had to overcome," he said. "It's a situation that you never want to see happen. I truly believe he didn't want that to happen. He's got to be accountable for his own actions, and I think he's stood up to that."

In a prepared statement after the attack, Bertuzzi issued a tearful apology but has not spoken directly to Moore.

Like Blake, Avalanche forward Joe Sakic, who will captain Team Canada, said he had no problem with Bertuzzi's selection.

"I've got no problem with it," Sakic said. "He deserves to be on the team. He's a great player."

TANGUAY PERPLEXED: Avalanche forward Alex Tanguay was among 36 Olympics hopefuls who attended Team Canada's Olympics orientation camp in August. Four months later, he's not sure if he really had much hope of making the team at all.

"You look at some of the guys and you look at some of the numbers, they obviously went with pretty much the same team as the (2004) World Cup," Tanguay said. "I guess it was pretty much decided from the summer on."

Of the 23 players who will represent Canada in Italy, 20 were on the World Cup roster. The exceptions are forwards Bertuzzi and Rick Nash and goalie Marty Turco.

Tanguay's 40 points are more than those of Canada forwards Bertuzzi, Shane Doan, Kris Draper, Vincent Lecavalier, Nash, Ryan Smyth and Martin St. Louis.

Alternates Eric Staal and Jason Spezza could not crack the roster despite monstrous seasons.

"You look at Staal and Spezza, the year they're having, if those guys would have been on the first squad, you say, 'Well, they went with the guys that are playing best now,'" Tanguay said. "I guess if I belonged to any other country, I'd have a chance to go."

Perhaps still stung by disappointment, Tanguay did not say whether he would be interested in playing for Canada at the 2010 Winter Games.

"Obviously it's a pretty restricted group, so we'll see," he said.

STRANGE WAYS: Colorado's 7-4 win against the Phoenix Coyotes featured three replay reviews, two goalie changes and a franchise record-tying three shorthanded goals by the Avalanche.

"It was so weird," said forward Ian Laperriere, who scored an empty-net goal from about 150 feet.

ETC.: With defenseman Ossi Vaananen out with the flu, Kurt Sauer played nearly 11 minutes in his first game since Oct. 11 . . . Laperriere's 11 goals are two short of his career-best set in 1994-95.

lopezaa@RockyMountainNews.com

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