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Jordin Tootoo vents about being a healthy scratch

Gabriel Bourque, Jordin Tootoo, Paul Gaustad

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom (5), of Sweden, skates by Nashville Predators left wing Gabriel Bourque, center, as he is congratulated by Paul Gaustad (28) and Jordin Tootoo (22) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Detroit, Friday, March 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

AP

Jordin Tootoo has been limited to all of 6:04 minutes of playing time in Nashville’s first round series. He’s spent three of their four playoff games in the press box. What has been the Predators’ rationale for that?

“I was told that my play towards the end of the season was awful and they got to go with the guys that are going (well),” Tootoo said. “Inconsistency I guess.”

Tootoo thinks the way to get out of that slump is to play through it, but the Predators have thus far been unwilling to do that. It’s hard to blame them, the playoffs aren’t the time to let someone work through a cold streak. However, Tootoo sounds well beyond the point of frustration.

“You can practice all you want, but at the end of the day it’s about playing the games and showing up and doing the right things and just being a professional about it,” Tootoo said. “For me, (expletive), you can only get bag-skated so much and mentally it’s (expletive), it’s straining, it’s frustrating.”

For his part, Predators coach Barry Trotz said that Tootoo has been working hard during practice. Tootoo is still an option, but who knows how long it’ll be before he’s used again. For Tootoo, waiting seems to be a difficult task at this point.

“When you get shut down and told you’re not playing, it (expletive) burns,” Tootoo said. “After doing everything right, it just (expletive). … I’m (ticked) off because I’m not able to do what I love to do and that’s playing the game.”