Bloodied, but still smiling

Kevin Westgarth was still smiling this morning. Breathing? That too, although it might have been a little more difficult. Westgarth said he likely suffered a broken nose during last night’s fight with the city of Chicago’s only known mountain, John Scott. Scott measures in at 6-foot-8 and north of 250 pounds, so Westgarth knew what he was getting into when he dropped the gloves. After the game, Westgarth had a bandage on his nose, and he skated in practice today with a visor but said he would be ready to play tomorrow if Terry Murray put him in the lineup.

“I’m good for about one a year,” Westgarth joked of his bloodied nose.

There is a sense of honor among enforcers, so given the chance to gloat after the game, Scott instead praised Westgarth’s effort, telling Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune, “He’s a good fighter. He’s been around the block. I just got the better of him on this day. I’m sure we’ll fight again and see how it goes.”

Westgarth also earned hearty praise for Murray for his effort…

MURRAY: “That’s a big man, that Scott. He must be about a 6-7, 6-8 guy there. He looked like a huge man compared to Westie, and Westie is a pretty big man. But I’ll tell you what, I give him marks for standing in there and battling and going bare knuckles with the guy. He’s trying to get something (going) with us, fired up, and give him all the credit in the world. That’s a lesson for all of us to take, to just go out and compete and battle hard and pay the price in order to get things turned around. He did his job in that area last night.”