Photo: FOX Sports
Former Washington Capitals‘ forward Zach Sanford got in a fight with teammate Robert Bortuzzo in the St. Louis Blues’ practice on Monday.
Robert Bortuzzo and Zach Sanford scrap during Blues hockey practice today. The Blues have lost 10 of its past 14 games #fightSZN @BizNasty2point0 @ryanwhitney6 @RearAdBsBlog @MikeGrinnell_ @spittinchiclets pic.twitter.com/ijWXgtQQEE
— Avery (@Avery_188) December 10, 2018
It appears as if Bortuzzo started the altercation while the two players were chatting in practice as he dropped his glove and started punching Sanford. After the two threw a few haymakers at one another, Blues’ assistant coach Steve Ott, a well-known fighter from his NHL career, broke up the altercation.
It has been a long season in St. Louis as the team is only a point ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings for the second to worst record in the Western Conference.
Many Blues’ players expressed their frustration with the team after getting spanked by a score of 6-1 by the Vancouver Canucks on home ice yesterday, their seventh loss in their past 10 games.
Tarasenko: “I apologize to all our fans. We can’t play at home like this. I don’t know how to fix it. We work on it but it doesn’t work for now.”
Steen: “Right now we’re not committed enough to what we want to accomplish”
Schenn: “We’re a fragile group. It comes with losing”
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) December 9, 2018
This was not expected from the Blues as the team was predicted to be one of the best teams in the NHL going into the season after the team acquired center Ryan O’Reilly, center Tyler Bozak, and forward David Perron over the summer.
The team started 17-7-1 last season but missed the playoffs by a point after falling to the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 on the final day of the season, a game which decided who would get the final wild card in the Western Conference.
Sanford along with forward Brad Malone and a first-round draft pick was acquired from the Capitals in the trade that sent defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk to Washington on February 27, 2017.
Sanford, 24, has posted four goals, nine points, and a +2 rating in 23 games for the Blues this season and six goals, 14 points, and a +4 rating in 33 career games for the Blues.
Drafted by the Capitals in the second round of the 2013 NHL Draft, Sanford posted two goals, three points, and an even rating in 26 games before getting dealt to St. Louis in the 2016-17 campaign.
By Harrison Brown
Shocked to see this.
Blues have plenty of talent, size, speed … a fired coach and a “rock bottom” event last week. They will get it together and have a successful season
Two seasons ago I clearly recall Barry Trotz describing 6’4″ 200+ pound Zach Sanford as “a REAL hockey player”–and that Zach was the reason Jakub Vrana was being sent back down to Hershey at the time.
A few months later–and right after Sanford scored two goals for us in his last two games–Trotz signed off on a trade that brought us Kevin Shattenkirk–a defenseman Blues fans often hated because of his–at times–porous defense, ironically, and the stupid penalties he’d take at critical junctures…
Anyway, as with Filip Forsberg, I’d always hoped we’d keep him but still wish him well–except when St.Louis plays us…
End,
Cliff
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