Three Detroit Red Wings to remember when playing Puckdoku

Puckdoku is the trivia game sweeping the hockey world. It’s the NHL equivalent of the “Immaculate Grid,“ a three-by-three fill-in-the-blank puzzle that originated as an MLB game but quickly spawned variants for all kinds of other sports leagues.

The concept is simple: For each square, try to think of a player who fits into the criteria established by both the corresponding X- and Y-axis labels. For example, Ray Bourque would fit perfectly into a Boston Bruins/Colorado Avalanche square. Patrick Roy would do just fine for Colorado/Montreal. You get the idea.

Of course, it goes a little deeper than that. Sometimes, instead of teams, Puckdoku uses statistical thresholds (“200+ goals”) or career achievements (“Olympic gold medallist”) as categories. Also, if you want to use a Minnesota North Stars player for the Dallas Stars or an original Winnipeg Jets player for the Arizona Coyotes, you can.

Naturally, some players are more useful for Puckdoku than others. Someone like Maurice Richard, who spent his entire career with the Montreal Canadiens, is pretty much useless for the game unless a Habs label happens to intersect with the right statistical category.

On the flip side, players who spent time with several NHL teams are among the most valuable for Puckdoku purposes. The more obscure the player, the lower (and better) your “uniqueness” score will be. Both Jarome Iginla and Blake Comeau are valid answers for Calgary/Pittsburgh, but one is a little less well-known than the other.

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to spend some time here at Daily Faceoff highlighting three players connected with each NHL franchise who are particularly useful in games of Puckdoku. We’ll press onward today with the Detroit Red Wings.

Todd Bertuzzi

Teams: New York Islanders, Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers, Detroit Red Wings, Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames

When the New York Islanders selected Todd Bertuzzi with the No. 23 overall pick in the 1993 NHL Draft, they probably didn’t expect him to become one of the most dominant power wingers in the league nearly a full decade later. They almost certainly didn’t anticipate that he’d commit one of the most notorious acts of violence ever seen on an NHL ice surface. All in all, Bertuzzi ended up making a name for himself in more ways than just one during his 1,159-game NHL career. (And yes — Tyler Bertuzzi is his nephew).

Bertuzzi went straight from the OHL to the Islanders in the 1995–96 season, although he spent a short while in the IHL the following year. Despite receiving enthusiastic plaudits from then-GM Mike Milbury early in his Islanders tenure, Bertuzzi seemed to lose some of his scoring touch in his sophomore year and he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks midway through the 1997–98 campaign.

After some initial growing pains in Vancouver, Bertuzzi finally emerged as one of the Canucks’ top forwards in the new millennium and established himself as a key component of the “West Coast Express” line with Markus Naslund and Brendan Morrison during the 2001–02 season. In 2002–03, Bertuzzi finished third in the NHL with 46 goals and fifth with 97 points. But in 2004, Bertuzzi was handed an indefinite suspension after severely injuring Colorado Avalanche forward Steve Moore with a sucker punch, an act widely seen as retribution for an earlier altercation involving Moore and Naslund. Moore, who never played in the NHL again after the incident and ultimately filed a lawsuit against Bertuzzi, broke his neck and suffered a severe concussion. Bertuzzi was suspended for the remaining 20 games of the 2003–04 season and ruled ineligible by the IIHF to play overseas during the 2004–05 lockout; he also pled guilty to an assault charge in a B.C. court.

Upon his return to action for the 2005–06 season, Bertuzzi posted strong numbers with the Canucks once again and represented Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Italy. But some in Vancouver argued that the lingering effects of the Moore incident had created a distraction around the team, which missed the playoffs for the first time since 2000. In June 2006, the Canucks traded Bertuzzi to the Florida Panthers as part of a ludicrously lopsided deal which saw All-Star goaltender Roberto Luongo head to Vancouver.

Bertuzzi appeared in just seven games with the Panthers before being diagnosed with a herniated disc in his back, which sidelined him until the following March. Prior to his return, the Panthers flipped Bertuzzi to the Red Wings, with whom he finished the 2006–07 season before signing with the Anaheim Ducks as a free agent. After brief (but productive) stints with the Ducks and Calgary Flames, Bertuzzi returned to the Red Wings in 2009. He spent five more seasons in Detroit, embracing a depth role and occasionally showing off his surprisingly slick hands in the shootout. In total, Bertuzzi managed 314 goals, 718 points, and 1,478 penalty minutes in 1,159 games split between the Islanders, Canucks, Panthers, Red Wings, Ducks, and Flames.

Troy Stecher

Teams: Vancouver Canucks, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, Arizona Coyotes, Calgary Flames

Although he’s never been one of the top players at his position like Bertuzzi and Murphy were, Troy Stecher has nevertheless been a fan favorite on all five of his NHL teams. The five-foot-ten defenseman makes up for his lack of size with an excess of heart and a willingness to sacrifice his body to make the right play.

After three seasons with the BCHL’s Penticton Vees and three more at the University of North Dakota, Stecher — a product of Richmond, British Columbia — signed an entry-level contract with the Vancouver Canucks in 2016. As a rookie, Stecher established himself as a reliable second-pairing defenseman with the team in 2016–17 and largely remained in that capacity for three seasons. Although his minutes were cut in the 2019–20 season, Stecher helped the Canucks reach the playoffs for the first time since 2015 and appeared in 17 games as the Canucks defeated the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues before falling to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Stecher signed a two-year deal with the Detroit Red Wings as an unrestricted free agent in 2020. He appeared in just 60 games over parts of two injury-plagued seasons with the Red Wings before being sent to the Los Angeles Kings at the 2022 trade deadline. He scored two goals and four points in four games as the Kings fell to the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

After playing just 29 games with the Red Wings and Kings in the 2021–22 regular season, Stecher signed a one-year deal with the Arizona Coyotes. Having returned to full health, Stecher managed seven assists in 61 games with the Coyotes before being flipped to the Calgary Flames in March. He matched his point output with three goals and four assists in 20 games down the stretch but the Flames failed to qualify for the postseason. In the offseason, Stecher returned to the Coyotes on another one-year contract.

Through 440 career games with the Canucks, Red Wings, Kings, Coyotes, and Flames, Stecher has collected 18 goals and 103 points. Now 29 years old, he’ll be one of the elder statesmen of a Coyotes defensive group that also includes Matt Dumba, Sean Durzi, J.J. Moser, Juuso Valimaki, and Victor Soderstrom.

Larry Murphy

Teams: Los Angeles Kings, Washington Capitals, Minnesota North Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings

“Booooo!”

That’s pretty much all Larry Murphy ever heard whenever he touched the puck at Maple Leaf Gardens — even when he played for the home team. Despite being a future first-ballot Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, Murphy couldn’t escape the boo birds during his tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The six-foot-two defenseman spent parts of two seasons with the Leafs in the late 1990s, collecting a respectable 19 goals and 100 points in 151 games. But the Leafs lost in the first round in 1996 and were on track to finish last in the Central Division the following year when they sent Murphy to the Red Wings at the trade deadline in exchange for future considerations.

Naturally, Murphy immediately won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Red Wings, bringing his career total to four (he’d previously won with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991 and 1992). While Detroit celebrated those consecutive championships, the Leafs missed the playoffs outright in both 1997 and 1998. Maybe it wasn’t actually all Murphy’s fault in Toronto.

Murphy lived up to his billing as the No. 4 overall pick of the Los Angeles Kings in 1980, setting NHL records with 60 assists and 76 points as a rookie defenseman and finishing second to Peter Stastny in Calder Trophy balloting. The Kings traded Murphy to the Washington Capitals early in his fourth season with the club; then, in 1989, Washington dealt Murphy to the Minnesota North Stars. Such was the nature of Murphy’s career: He was good enough that practically every team in the league coveted him, but not so good to be deemed indispensable.

After just 121 games in Minnesota, Murphy arrived in Pittsburgh almost exactly halfway through the 1990–91 season. Later that same year, the Penguins would acquire Jiri Hrdina, Ulf Samuelsson, Scott Young, and a certain somebody named Ron Francis in an attempt to improve their Cup chances. It worked. Mario Lemieux drove the bus, but Murphy, Francis, Paul Coffey, Jaromir Jagr, Mark Recchi, and many others stepped up as Pittsburgh toppled the New Jersey Devils, Washington Capitals, and Boston Bruins before defeating Murphy’s old North Stars in the 1991 Stanley Cup Final. Murphy was one of eight future Hall of Fame players on that year’s Penguins. The next year, Pittsburgh swept the Chicago Blackhawks to win the Cup once again.

Murphy spent parts of five seasons in Pittsburgh before being traded to Toronto in 1995. Then, after being rescued by the Red Wings in 1997, Murphy was again one of eight future Hall of Fame players on a team that made its way to the Stanley Cup Final. That year, the Red Wings swept the Philadelphia Flyers to win the trophy; then, in 1998, they swept the Washington Capitals to win it again. Between 1991 and 1998, Murphy won the last 15 Stanley Cup Final games in which he played — and, at age 37, he logged more than 27 minutes in each of those four games against the Capitals in the 1998 Final. What a machine!

Since retiring in 2001, Murphy has periodically served as an analyst on Red Wings television broadcasts. He finished his NHL career with 288 goals and 1,217 points in 1,615 games split between the Kings, Capitals, North Stars, Penguins, Maple Leafs, and Red Wings.