St. Louis Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo had a disciplinary hearing on Sunday for repeatedly cross-checking Nashville Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson in their most recent game.
The result of that hearing: A four-game suspension for Bortuzzo.
The Predators, meanwhile, announced that Arvidsson will miss the next four-to-six weeks as a result of the play, specifically pointing out that this play was the cause of the injury.
Bortuzzo will miss games against Nashville, Tampa Bay, Dallas and Pittsburgh and be eligible to return to the lineup on December 2 when the Blues visit the Chicago Blackhawks.
Here is a look at the NHL’s explanation for the suspension. This is Bortuzzo’s third suspension in his NHL career.
The concerning thing here is this is not the first time Bortuzzo has done something like this. Over the years he has developed quite a track record of similar incidents where he uses his stick in such a manner.
A couple of years ago he had a similarly violent attack on New York Islanders forward Brock Nelson (resulting in a fine but no suspension) that you can see here.
In last year’s playoffs against the Dallas Stars he took exception to what he considered to be repeated dives from Esa Lindell by giving him another high cross-check. You can see that here.
Although the circumstances were different, he also injured Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin with a blatant cross-check away from the play and in front of the net. You can see that one here.
He also has an additional fine for another cross-checking incident involving Jordan Szwarz of the Boston Bruins late in the 2017-18 season (no video available).
When you add all of those incidents together, combined with the fact he has already been suspended two other times (once for interference; once for elbowing), as well as the fact Arvidsson is sidelined for a significant portion of the season, he is probably very fortunate that this suspension was only four games and not significantly longer.
MORE:
• Arvidsson sidelined 4-6 weeks with lower-body injury
• Arvidsson injury puts damper on much-needed Predators’ win
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.
