Mitch Scott
Contributor
On Tuesday night, the NHL took another blow to their already tarnished reputation on headshots. The Boston Bruins’ 6’9” defenceman Zdeno Chara hit Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty along the Bruins bench, directing Pacioretty’s head directly into the partition that separates the two teams’ benches.
Pacioretty was motionless on the ice for five minutes before they finally carried him off on a stretcher.
The hit wasn’t a direct headshot; however, the repercussions left the Canadiens forward with a severe concussion and cracked vertebra that will take him out of the game indefinitely. Chara was given a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct; however, the disciplinary action – or more accurately the lack thereof – taken has been the centre of controversy since Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the NHL’s board of governors, which included the vp of hockey operations, Mike Murphy, announced they would not be issuing a suspension to Chara for the hit.
“After a thorough review of the video I can find no basis to impose supplementary discipline […] I could not find any evidence to suggest that, beyond this being a correct call for interference, that Chara targeted the head of his opponent, left his feet or delivered the check in any other manner that could be deemed to be dangerous,” said Murphy, according to NHL.com.
The announcement inspired outrage among fans, especially in the city of Montreal and within Pacioretty himself, inviting the league to wake up. TSN’s Bob Mackenzie met with the 22-year-old in his hospital bed in Montreal.
“I am upset and disgusted that the league didn’t think enough of the hit to suspend him. I’m not mad for myself; I’m mad because if other players see a hit like that and think it’s okay, they won’t be suspended, then other players will get hurt because I got hurt,” said Pacioretty, fuming.
The Montreal police alleged that they had received hundreds of phone calls from angry fans wanting the police to press charges against Chara. Quebec’s director of criminal and penal prosecutions has confirmed that they are investigating the Chara hit.
Fans weren’t the only ones outraged – corporate sponsor Air Canada was ticked as well. They have threatened to pull out sponsorship in the NHL if they can’t crack down on the prevention of headshots. Air Canada is the arena sponsor for the Toronto Maple Leafs Air Canada Centre.
The hit came on the eve of the seventh anniversary of the infamous Todd Bertuzzi and Steve Moore incident. That incident left Colorado Avalanche player Steve Moore with a broken neck following a sucker punch to the side of the head from Bertuzzi. Moore had also launched a lawsuit against Bertuzzi, one still in the works today.
The Chara-Pacioretti incident seems to be the tipping point for fans on the issue of headshots. Chara isn’t a dirty player and he never has been, but the hit was unnecessary and avoidable. The question of whether or not Chara should have been suspended is still up in the air; however, the NHL has to be more consistent when issuing suspensions, no matter how bad the incident was, who the player is and how big of an impact it will have on the team.
