St. Louis Blues Robert Bortuzzo Punishes Team With Dumb Suspension

St. Louis Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo got suspended for four games by the NHL. In an unusual circumstance, the league was justified.

St. Louis Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo plays with an edge and some grit, which is why he fits in so well with the team that won the 2019 Stanley Cup and continued to play well in 2019-20. However, he will not be playing with the team for awhile because of that grit which overflowed.

Bortuzzo was suspended four games by the NHL for conduct on the ice in the Blues game against the Nashville Predators on November 23. Bortuzzo was given a penalty after a crosscheck into the back of Viktor Arvidsson, but that was not the suspendable act.

Once Bortuzzo saw the penalty had been given, he made a hand gesture toward the referee as if to say “are you kidding?” Bortuzzo then turned back to Arvidsson and crosschecked him a second time in the small of the back.

At the time – watching in real time – many Blues fans felt Arvidsson was acting or overreacting. After watching the video, it was a completely unnecessary action by Bortuzzo that ended up injuring an opponent.

Arvidsson will miss the next four to six weeks. Oddly, they are listing it as a lower body injury, which would make it seem unrelated to the crosscheck, but that is neither here nor there at this juncture.

The point is this is not behavior becoming of someone in the St. Louis Blues organization. I am not here to act all high and mighty and spout some nonsense about there being a Blues way – no offense to those that subscribe to the “Cardinal way” – but I just don’t want my players stepping over the line like this.

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If it was one time, it is a pass. Hockey is a violent sport and you basically have a weapon in your hands at the moment you become enraged. It happens, so bad things can happen.

Hockey is a game of rivalries and physicality.  We all walk that thin line of wanting our guy to pummel another in the face, but there really is a difference of punching someone and using your stick.

There is still a line that should not be crossed. This crosscheck does not approach Marty McSorley or Todd Bertuzzi territory, but the repeat nature of Bortuzzo’s infractions is getting worrisome.

Bortuzzo was suspended in September of 2018 for elbowing Michal Kempny. He was also fined for two separate crosschecking incidents. The one against Brock Nelson was quite similar to this incident in that Bortuzzo repeatedly crosschecked his opponent and went for the vulnerable spot around the kidneys where there is no padding.

This is a rare instance where the NHL is quite correct in suspending one of the Blues players. Normally we see all things through blue colored glasses, but there is no reason for him to do what he did.

The video released by the league also explains why the suspension took place. Sometimes these videos are merely puff pieces edited together to show angles that justify the league’s decision. In this case, it merely points out what we might have missed in real time or thought was just overacting by an opponent.

The frustrating part, beyond the fact that one of our players all but purposely injured a fellow hockey player, is that the Blues were finally settling into a defensive lineup. Despite a few in-game tweaks, the Blues had finally settled on three pairs and were sticking with that.

Now, due to Bortuzzo’s selfish act, everything gets tossed up into the air again.

It seems unlikely the Blues will simply slip Carl Gunnarsson into the duo with Vince Dunn. So, who gets moved around?

In all likelihood, Justin Faulk could bear the brunt of this change. Faulk seems to play his best paired with Jay Bouwmeester, but it would not be shocking to see Bouwmeester paired with Colton Parayko, Gunnarsson with Alex Pietrangelo and Faulk placed with Dunn.

No offense, but a Dunn/Faulk pairing has less defensive thoughts than some of the forwards on the team. They are both good individual players, but their styles are the same and that means things open up at the back far too much when they are together.

Bortuzzo’s suspension, even if four games is relatively short, also puts the Blues in a bind on the injury front. *Knock on wood* the Blues have been healthy on the blue line so far, but they will be down to six defensemen on the NHL roster with no clear candidate to call up from the minors.

The Blues are high on Niko Mikkola, but the analysts kept telling us he’s not quite NHL ready prior to the season. The Blues brought in Derrick Pouliot for just this reason, so he might make the most sense since he has 17 points in 19 AHL games. Jake Walman continues to be a puzzle given that he was so highly touted and can’t seem to take any of the next steps past just being promising.

It is just a bad situation all around for the Blues. You like the physicality that Bortuzzo gives you, but if this continues to be an issue, he might stay in the press box even when he returns.

The Blues have enough issues with player health at the moment as they are being stretched at the forward position. They did not need any additional issues on the blue line and now Bortuzzo has given them one.

I have little doubt the Blues will continue to find ways to win. It is merely disappointing for a player that is somewhat well liked by the fanbase to do such a foolish thing to the detriment of his team.