REINFORCEMENTS: Red Wings bring up help from Grand Rapids

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The Detroit Red Wings are calling up some reinforcements from the Grand Rapids Griffins due to a run-in with the injury bug.

They’ve re-called forward Tyler Bertuzzi due to an undisclosed injury to forward David Booth, and he’ll make his regular season debut for the Red Wings tomorrow against the St. Louis Blues at Little Caesars Arena (1:00 EST).

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According to GM Ken Holland, Booth is day-to-day.

Bertuzzi was drafted with Detroit’s second draft pick (58th overall) in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft and appeared in seven games last season with the Red Wings before suffering a high ankle sprain. So far in 12 games with the Griffins this year, Bertuzzi has nine points. He suffered a wrist injury in training camp which damaged his chances of making the opening night roster.

Head coach Jeff Blashill alluded to Bertuzzi’s skill set this past NHL Draft in June.

“He brings a lot of qualities that we don’t have — he’s hard and has skill,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of guys with skill that might not be hard. We’ve got some guys that are hard that might not have as much skill. He’s got a pretty good package in my opinion, as a fit on our team.”

With nine goals and 19 points this past spring, Bertuzzi was awarded the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the AHL Calder Cup’s most valuable player. He helped the Griffins take home their second championship in five years. 

The Red Wings will be looking to pick up momentum against the Blues after picking up their first victory in seven games earlier this week against the Winnipeg Jets with a 5-1 victory.