TSN.ca Staff with Vancouver Province files

9/10/2006 5:54:33 PM

Todd Bertuzzi's troubles in his final season with the Vancouver Canucks stemmed from more than just the fallout from the Steve Moore incident.

In an interview from Sunday's Vancouver Sun, the new Florida Panther revealed a myriad of problems with his former team, including former Canucks coach Marc Crawford.

"We had some real differences in philosophy, and there were some things he did that really bothered me, most particularly how he handled my friends - Brad May especially," he told the Province.

"He never played him. He never gave him a chance to show what he could do."

The Canucks missed the playoffs last year for the first time since 2000, and Bertuzzi added that Crawford's lineup changes were not working as the season wound down.

"I thought he hit the panic button down the stretch, and wanted us to play a different style when things got tough," he explained to the paper.

"We had some issues but that doesn't mean he's a bad coach and I certainly don't want to leave here being the guy calling him down. At New Year's, five or six of us guys sat down with him for a handful of beers and we had a good talk and he even picked up the tab and the communication lines were open. But I'm not going to lie to you and say everything was fine."

The Panthers acquired Todd Bertuzzi, defenceman Bryan Allen and goalie Alexander Auld from the Canucks in exchange for goaltender Roberto Luongo, defencemanLukas Krajicek and a 2006 sixth round pick.

The deal ended a soap-opera season for the power forward, was also hurt by accusations that he and captain Markus Naslund were a dysfunctional element on the team.

"I really do think it was overblown and it was mostly started by one guy, and how can I control what one guy like Steve McCarthy thinks," Bertuzzi told the Province.

"When all that stuff started coming out it bothered all of us so much we had a team meeting about it and it was one of those where it was nothing but the truth or leave the room. Not one guy stood up and said he had a problem. I think it was mostly sour grapes on his (McCarthy's) part because he wasn't playing much and when he left he said those things. I don't know why he said them."

Bertuzzi's first game in Vancouver will be Jan. 7. "That will be the hardest game I'll probably ever have to play," he told th eProvince. "I've got friends on the team and the fans in Vancouver are absolutely the best. The support they have given me over the years, I'll never be able to thank them enough."

Files from the Vancouver Province were used for this report.