Blocked shots, whiskey shots and grinta: How Robert Bortuzzo became an integral part of the Blues -

The Italian word is grinta.

It was passed down from Robert Bortuzzo’s grandfather, Sergio, a semi-pro cyclist in Italy, and his grandpa’s cousin, John Franco, once a member of Italy’s national soccer team.

“I never got the chance to learn Italian, but it was something my dad (Oscar) would always mention to me as a kid,” Robert says.

Oscar Bortuzzo, who’s fluent in Italian, provided the translation.

“It means grit,” says Oscar, a former soccer player in Thunder Bay (Ont.), Canada. “When I was still playing, I was probably 27 years old, and we were a top team in the city. (Franco) went to one of our practices, and the first thing he saw with our team is we lacked grit. He was 55 at the time, and I’m telling you, he was a machine. When I look back, I vividly remember him using that word. Grinta.”

Through the generations, it’s still fitting, because if there’s one word that defines the Blues’ 32-year-old defenseman, it’s grit.

Since coming to the Blues in the trade that sent Ian Cole to the Penguins in 2014, the 6-foot-4, 216-pound blueliner has laid 656 hits (second among Blues during that time to Ryan Reaves), blocked 5.28 shots per 60 minutes (third to Carl Gunnarsson and Barret Jackman) and been involved in 14 fights (second to Reaves).

His mental toughness and the passion he plays with are perhaps the top reasons he’s made it 11 seasons in the NHL, and are a big part of why he was re-signed to a two-year, $1.9 million contract extension earlier this month. If he sees the end of that deal, it will give him 10 seasons in St. Louis, which is incredible considering he’s played more than 59 games in a season just once in his 11-year, 460-game career.

“My path, I’m not going to say it was the most difficult, but it definitely wasn’t the most traditional path of being a high-end pick,” says Bortuzzo, who was a third-round pick by the Penguins in 2007. “I knew I was going to have to spend time in the minors and grind. I made the realization that I would need to make some adjustments to my game if I want to get to that next level.

“I’d do whatever it took, and grinta, that’s kind of what the word ‘heart’ means to me. That’s something that never really left me, I guess.”

In 2009, Bortuzzo reported to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, which is Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate. Not much of a fighter previously, he had two black eyes most of his rookie season in the minors, leading to the nickname “Raccoon Eyes.”

“I’ll never forget how that happened,” says Blues broadcaster Joey Vitale, who was both teammates and roommates with Bortuzzo that season. “We were playing the Bridgeport Sound Tigers our rookie season. I was on the ice, and I got hit from behind, and, of course, everyone jumps in. Well, Bridgeport had the biggest goon line, so when ‘Bortz’ jumps in, he gets the toughest guy of them all, Trevor Gillies (6-3, 231 pounds).

“I got in a fight, got absolutely destroyed, and kicked out of the game. So I’m in the lounge watching on TV as the refs sort this out, and I hear ‘Bortz’ in the trainer’s room. All of a sudden, he comes around the corner with double ice packs on his eyes, which had a full circle of black and purple. He wasn’t known for that, but you realize, ‘I’m OK, and if the team needs this out of me, this is one of my tickets to the NHL.'”

Robert Bortuzzo in 2009 with the Penguins (Gregory Shamus / NHLI via Getty Images)

Bortuzzo says his sandpaper style is something former Wilkes-Barre coach Todd Reirden, now an assistant in Pittsburgh, and former Kitchener Rangers coach Pete DeBoer, now the head coach in Vegas, said he would need to play in the NHL.

“He was a totally different junior than he is a pro,” DeBoer says. “He was a skilled power-play defenseman, and I have all the time in the world for guys like that because he reinvented himself at the pro level in order to carve out a career.

“He does a lot of dirty work for them: blocks shots, fights, plays physical, and like I said, that’s not something that always came natural to him. He decided that that’s what he had to do to play in the NHL and have a career in the NHL, and he did it. I have a lot of admiration for that.”

Though Bortuzzo has carved out a spot in the league, life as a fifth, sixth or seventh defenseman means he’s had a seat in the press box on many nights. In 2018-19, when the Blues won the Stanley Cup, he played in 59 of the team’s 82 regular-season games. He was injured for a month but was also a healthy scratch in seven games. He played in 17 of 26 games in the playoffs and never complained.

“I’ve always noticed, even when he’s out of the lineup, he’s always happy for guys that step in,” says former Blues forward Jaden Schwartz, who was teammates with Bortuzzo for seven seasons and is now playing in Seattle. “If someone goes in and plays well, he’s happy for them. He always comes back to work the next day.”

Bortuzzo’s understanding of those types of situations is two-fold.

“I’ve been fortunate to have good coaches here, and you trust their decision,” he says. “They’re like everyone us; they’re doing what they think is best for the team to win, and if it’s for me not to be in, you take it in stride. I also think if you’re going to whine and moan, that’s disrespectful to your other teammate that’s going in.

“I’ve always been a guy who wanted to be low-maintenance to a coaching staff. I don’t want to be a guy that they’re worried about, or wonder, ‘How’s Bortz doing? What’s he thinking?’ They’ve got enough on their plate.”

That doesn’t mean it’s always easy to accept. Bortuzzo can recall it was wearing on him a bit early in his time with the Blues, and teammate Alexander Steen took him aside.

“Steener is a guy who was so in-tune with the pulse of the locker room,” Bortuzzo says. “I was scratched one game, and he may have been injured, and he could just tell that I was bummed and not in a great place. He invited me over, and we had a ‘two-finger’ whiskey in the middle of the day. He cracked open a bottle of Oban, and we just talked through some things.”

So how was the whiskey and what did Steen say?

“I’m not even a whiskey drinker — I don’t even really like the stuff — and truthfully I can’t even remember the message,” Bortuzzo says. “But I figured if this veteran guy invited me over, absolutely, I’ll slam back a whiskey. The biggest thing was just the fact that someone was watching and cared enough. It went a long way.”

It reinforced his belief about being there for your teammates.

Bortuzzo played his role to the fullest, and eventually, it put his name on the Cup.

On Nov. 24, 2018, Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine scored five goals in an 8-4 win over the Blues. Bortuzzo missed that game with an injury but recalled it when they met the Jets in the first round of the 2019 playoffs.

“I’ll never forget it,'” Oscar Bortuzzo says, “he told me, ‘Dad, (Laine’s) not going to score. I’m going to be out there, and I’m going to block everything.’ The comment was definitely, ‘He’s not going to do that again on us.'”

After the Blues won Games 1 and 2 of the quarterfinal series in Winnipeg, Game 3 was in St. Louis. The score was 0-0 in the first period, and the Jets went on the power play. The puck came around to Laine on the right circle, and Bortuzzo followed through on his promise, sprawling out on the ice to block the shot.

It wasn’t the hardest shot that Bortuzzo has absorbed in his career, but it might have hurt the most.

“It actually cracked my rib,” he says. “That one, I was laying in bed for about a week, and every time I got up, it was deep breaths.”

Bortuzzo led the Blues that postseason with 6.59 blocked shots per 60 minutes.

“That was the job that was bestowed upon me, and I’m going to do it because it helps the team win,” he says. “I think little things like that seep down into a team, where if one guy sees it, maybe he’ll get in front of one. You throw a couple extra hits in there, too, and I think it seeps into a team.”

The most memorable sequence of Bortuzzo’s career — blocks, hits and sheer desperation — came earlier this season.

On Dec. 4 in Florida, the Blues and Panthers were tied 3-3 in overtime when Brayden Schenn took a tripping penalty. The Panthers went on a four-on-three power play, and Bortuzzo was on the penalty kill with Ryan O’Reilly and Oskar Sundqvist.

Let’s watch the final 1:20 of OT and then find out how it unfolded.

(Bortuzzo is in a white jersey, No. 41, and starts out as the middle player.)

Bortuzzo, watching the clip himself, takes us through it step-by-step:

“Florida is a high-end offense, and when you go down (a man) in OT, it’s going to be tough to kill,” Bortuzzo says. “I gave a guy a cross-check and ended up breaking my stick. I have a little extension on my stick, so it kind of broke by the knob. I tried to keep playing with it (which is a penalty), but the Florida player realized it was broken and was yelling at the ref. I knew I had to throw it or we were going down five-on-three, which looking back, maybe you’re better off five-on-three with three sticks than four-on-two essentially (two sticks).

“The puck almost went over the glass, and I thought that was going to be our reprieve. That didn’t happen, so then it’s just desperation and unique ways of contorting your body. Here, I’m on all fours. (Tyler) Bozak and Schwartz coined that the ‘bear crawl.’ You’re doing your best to deter anyone from shooting. The puck almost gets out, but the guy keeps it in. Now it’s fatigue, and the brain shuts off a bit, so you’re just flailing around. My favorite part is taking the guy (Sam Bennett) out at the end. Then we finally get the clear.”

Bortuzzo’s total shift lasted 1:57, and while he was only credited with one block, his teammates knew he had done much more.

“I mean, I was just ready to grab a seat. I was leaning on the bench, just trying to catch my breath, hoping I didn’t get picked for the shootout,” Bortuzzo laughs. “But no, it feels good when you know that your teammates appreciate the little things like that, some of the sacrifice. That kind of goes back to the culture in our room.”

Vitale was calling the game that day on the radio.

“That was awesome!” he says. “To me, he just doesn’t care about his own health. He never cares about his body. Everything is about the emblem on the front. He’s a player that’s always loved doing the things that other players just don’t want to do.”

Schwartz says video of Bortuzzo’s stickless, reckless abandon was immediately sent to him by Bozak, who missed that game on the COVID-19 protocol list.

“I was just crying laughing,” Schwartz says. “That pretty much sums him up in a minute and a half right there. That sums up his game and his heart, how he lays it all on the line, and the boys love it.”

The boys also love Bortuzzo off the ice.

It’s safe to say that he likes to stir the pot.

“It keeps everyone on their toes,” Bortuzzo says. “You can get an idea of who jokes with who. There’s like a mini-rivalry going on, competing with guys over stupid stuff. It doesn’t matter what it is.”

Vitale recalls one example after he and Bortuzzo ate a meal at Olive Garden back in the minors.

“I gave up cheese for Lent one year,” Vitale says. “I used to pile the cheese on, and I said, ‘No cheese.’ He said, ‘You’re not going to give up cheese for 40 days,’ and I said, ‘Yes I am.’ So every day, he would come into the locker room, and go, ‘How’s that cheese thing going?’ Then he’d tell everyone, ‘Joey thinks he can give up cheese.'”

Bortuzzo never changed when he got to the NHL.

“He’s always good at picking a side in an argument and getting the other guy going a little bit on purpose,” Schwartz says. “I picked up on that. Half the time, he knows he’s wrong, but he’ll just do it to get somebody fired up.”

It’s also safe to say that Bortuzzo likes to have fun.

His dad is a retired school teacher whose fifth-grade classroom was always a popular place.

“I always wore costumes,” he says. “I dressed up as a bride one time. It was my mother-in-law’s dress from the ’70s. I did some crazy stuff, and the whole school, they loved that. I think Robert kind of saw that.”

Yes, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

At the Blues’ annual Halloween party, Bortuzzo has dressed up in the past as a “social media influencer/Instagram model,” wearing a pink bikini, and last October he was a Peloton instructor.

“I thought the Peloton one was clever,” he says. “My fiancee (Megan Cronin) took the reins on that, and I thought she nailed it. She did my make-up and hair.”

Robert Bortuzzo and his fiance, Megan Cronin, in costume for the Blues’ Halloween party. (Courtesy of Robert Bortuzzo)

The Blues got a good chuckle when the couple arrived at the party.

“His Peloton outfit was probably one of the funnier things I’ve seen,” Sundqvist says. “You just start laughing, and then you want a picture with him. He’s good at bringing that to the team. He’s probably one of the best teammates I’ve ever had.”

Bortuzzo believes the combination of working hard and enjoying the ride together builds a bond in which players can hold each other accountable and know that they’re coming from a genuinely good place.

“It makes it easier for you to talk to your teammates and tell your teammates, ‘Hey you messed this up,'” he says. “It creates this buffer for guys to feel safe, telling each other, ‘Hey, we’ve got to work harder.’ That’s what good teams do. They have the ability in their locker room to — not coach each other, but tell each other what they need and not feel uncomfortable.”

“He’s got that easy-going demeanor until he needs to turn it on,” Oscar Bortuzzo says. “It’s easy to be well-liked, but then, ‘Boys, we’ve got to get going!'”

“He holds guys accountable in a good way, making sure they’re doing their job,” Schwartz says. “But at the same time, he’s always there for you.”

And after agreeing to an extension, Bortuzzo will be with the Blues for perhaps two more years.

“For them to have enough faith in me and trust that I’ll come in and give them exactly what they need, that means a lot,” he says. “I’ve always felt like I’m part of something, and I just want everyone to feel like they’re part of something. You want to be a guy who, one day when they ask about you, they say, ‘Yeah, he helped contribute to the culture.’ That’s something I’ve prided myself on.”

(Top photo: Darcy Finley / NHLI via Getty Images)

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