from Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,
As if this weren’t enough of a rivalry, Robert Bortuzzo’s cross-checking on Nashville forward Viktor Arvidsson has the Predators riled up in advance of tonight’s 7 p.m. contest with the Blues.
The word of the day from the Predators was “vicious.” That’s what they thought of the second of two cross-checks by Bortuzzo in Saturday's game at Enterprise Center, which resulted in a four-game suspension for the Blues’ defenseman and a lower-body injury for Arvidsson that will sideline him for four to six weeks.
When asked if he thought the punishment fit the crime for Bortuzzo, Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said: “That’s not for me to say. I thought it was pretty vicious. So those are decisions higher up than me.”..
As might be expected, Blues coach Craig Berube had a different view of the Bortuzzo hit and suspension.
“I don’t make those calls,” Berube said. “I really don’t comment on ‘em too much. It’s unfortunate we lost ‘Borts.’ He’s a good player for us, does a lot of good things. But his game is to play tough and hard around our net. He’s trying to be a physical guy around the net. That’s the way it goes sometimes.”
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