"He started out in Vancouver by hanging out with Donald Brashear and was going nowhere until Naslund befriended him and worked on helping the guy jettison the bad influences in his life. "
"That was the chemistry of that line: Naslund was like a mentor to him. Morrison was the perfect glue guy, lots of talent and speed, and able to facilitate between super skill (Naslund) and skilled power (Bertuzzi)."
“I think, the near the end, it got pretty hard on him,” Bertuzzi said after a practice with his new mates at the Pengrowth Saddledome “And it wasn’t deserved.”
Too soft, too quiet, too European — Naslund heard it all in his final year as captain of the Canucks. All the while, Bertuzzi seethed on behalf of his friend, who scored 25 goals on a team starved for offence.
“That guy gave everything he had to that city,” Bertuzzi said. “For a handful of people to disrespect him and call him out like that? I don’t think that was something he was forecasting.”
“It got brutal,” Bertuzzi said. “I think you read the papers. I think everyone read the papers. Me, being a personal friend of his, I know how tough it was.”
"It still bothers me what Todd has had to go through over this and the way its dragged on and on over the years," said Naslund. "I still keep in close contact with him and its been tough on him. Its taken its toll. Theres no question he was standing up for me and for his teammates when it happened and it all went too far. All of the circumstances around it went the wrong way and got out of hand. Its been a long road and hes been through a lot. I feel bad for him and the way its worked out for everyone involved. "
Nazzy: "The exhausting part of these trips is that you're mostly baby-sitting a 28 year old baby, Todd here. It's things like these you have to live with."
[later... ]
Reporter: "Markus said something about... travelling is like taking care of a 28 year old baby."
Bert: [laughs] "That's what he said? That's brutal!"
"One, I didn't get a vote. Two, there should be a Florida recount. He is the beloved son here in Vancouver. I'm the red-headed stepchild." - Bertuzzi on Naslund being named one of the 10 Most Beautiful People in B.C.
"He's bigger, louder, and better looking." -Naslund on Bertuzzi
"Yeah, it was a time in our life where it was fun right around the clock," said Bertuzzi. "The friendships you build and how close we were on and off the ice and how we played. It was a couple of seasons where everything we did went right. Those don't happen too often."
"We talk all the time via text (messaging)," said Bertuzzi of his former Canucks sidekick, "and we talk on the phone at least once a month. We've always kept in touch. Our families are close and we keep pretty good tabs on each other."
They were never the same after they parted ways.
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