The National Hockey League will in fact be stepping in on this rather controversial matter.
On Saturday night during a match up between the St. Louis Blues and the Nashville Predators fans were witness to a rather vicious assault on the part of St. Louis Blues enforcer Robert Bortuzzo. The assault appeared to be an unprovoked attack on Nashville Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson, one that was so vicious in its nature that it garnered widespread attention on social media. Even fans outside of both the Predators and the Blues fan base took note of this one and the clip of Bortuzzo's assault quickly circulated on social media, likely aiding in the National Hockey League's decision to get their Department of Player Safety involved in this matter.
According to an official announcement from the NHL's Department of Player Safety the league will now be reviewing the incident and will hold a hearing on Sunday for Bortuzzo. This likely means that the veteran enforcer will be facing a suspension at some point during the day, but given that this will not be an in person hearing it seems to suggest that he will get 5 or fewer games for this infraction.
For those of you who did not witness the original incident it was pretty tough to watch. Arvidsson crashed the Blues crease in the game's opening period with just a little less than 7 minutes played in the game and that was when Bortuzzo pounced. The Blues enforcer was understandably trying to clear the crease for Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington and delivered a stiff crosscheck to the back of Arvidsson, one that sent the Predators' forward flying into the Blues net in awkward fashion. The referee saw it all go down and raised his arm for a two minute minor penalty and that is where things should have ended, but Bortuzzo was livid and decided to take it out on his downed opponent.
The second crosscheck is the one that has garnered all the attention as it came straight down on the small of Arvidsson's back, in an area where hockey equipment provides no protection of any kind. The Predators forward reacted like he had just been electrocuted, and unsurprisingly would not return to the game following the incident. It is clear that this play has no place in the sport of hockey, and now it will be on the NHL to determine how severe of a punishment the assault from Bortuzzo has warranted.
