You cannot even try to equate charging being the same as swinging a guys stick at someones head or taking a skate blade and using it as a weapon. One is truly assault the other is part of the sport. like what? Theres a huge difference between playing a sport to its fullest capacity and then going WAY over the line and straight up assaulting a guy. Talk about intellectually honest my god. Violence does sell, if there wasnt violence you think people would watch the NFL? There would be no rugby, no UFC, no wrestling etc etc. If violence didnt sell, they wouldnt keep making horror movies. Its been statistically proven that violence sells. Contact sports benefit from big hits, big plays, etc. Do i want Malkin swinging his stick at peoples heads? no. Do i want tom wilson to be able hit guys as hard as he can within reason (no late cheap shot crap, boarding, etc) yeah i do.

Bortuzzo's initial "cross check" where arvidsson flops was his attempt of clearing out the crease. Dont want to get hit, dont go INSIDE the crease. Happens literally in every game. Bortuzzo went over the line on the 2nd check when arvidsson was down.

Why do you care that i would retaliate or not? If someone is out there flopping and making a mockery of the game im going to do the same thing but on the other end of the spectrum. Theres no place for flopping in hockey. If i wanted to watch flopping ide watch more soccer. Maybe players will think twice before flopping again when they play st. louis. Good for them. Let me paint this picture, its the stanley cup nashville is playing your favorite team, arvidsson flops on a soft "cross check" gets a call, nashville scores on the powerplay and wins. Would you be more pissed that the opponent won on a scam artist style play where the refs decided the game. Or would you be more mad that bortuzzo reacted and went over the line on a lapse of judgement. Ide bet if the refs dont make that soft call bortuzzo doesnt go over the line and drill arvidsson.

The game wouldnt BE HERE TODAY if it wasnt for the hard hitting, "uncivilized" "barbaric" play style that occurred in the past. If you dont think the ONLY reason the NHL is getting softer is because of the CTE lawsuits and the money involved in future payouts, then you my friend are blatantly naive. You think a sport that is built for contact and heavy hits WANTS to become softer? Funny how the refs typically bury their whistles in the playoffs and we go back to the "uncivilized" version of hockey. The NHL knows what sells.

It was a definition cross-check which is a penalty. Even if you think Ardvisson "flopped", the initial hit was a cross-check and the ref was looking right at him.

Bortuzzo was just mad that he didn't get away with it.

he BARELY touches him which is why bortuzzo got mad

nOt A cRoSs ChEcK

apparently burying your stick into a guys back qualifies as barely touching him.

watch it slowed down and you can see he barely touches him before arvidsson flops.

I did and I what I saw was Bortuzzo burying his stick, with both hands, into a player's back.

not how i saw it, to each their own i guess. i saw bortuzzo with one hand on his stick go in with it pressed against his body, arvidsson start to fall before bortuzzo even extends his arms and then bortuzzo looks at the ref and gets pissed and the gives him a hefty 2 hander to the lower back.

Yeah, this is the perfect example of "Who are you going to believe -- me or your lying eyes?"

now youre just making stuff up. bortuzzo had 2 hands on his stick the whole time, he takes his left hand off his stick after the hit.

watch from 0:43 to 0:47
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQGKRgxQHY4

Thats how ive seen it through watching the video multiple times now. He goes in barely holding the stick in soft with his stick in the air. Then after contact he wasnt thinking arvidsson would drop like that or else he wouldnt have reacted by grabbing the crossbar to brace himself...