Torres gets 41-game ban for another hit to head

San Jose winger has been suspended five times for questionable on-ice conduct

The NHL handed out one of its longest suspensions for on-ice conduct in league history by banning San Jose Sharks forward Raffi Torres 41 games for an illegal hit to the head of Anaheim Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg.

Torres is one of the worst headshot offenders in recent years, since the league’s department of player safety began cracking down on them.

It is the fifth suspension for Torres. He has also been fined three times and warned twice in 703 games, according to director of player safety Patrick Burke, who narrated the suspension video.

Torres had already been suspended for hits to the head of Jordan Eberle (April 2011), Nate Prosser (December 2011), Marian Hossa (April 2012) and Jarret Stoll (2013).

Silfverberg was his latest victim when Torres lined up the Swede during Saturday night’s pre-season game and drove his left shoulder upwards into his head. Silfverberg left for precautionary reasons but was considered OK.

Torres was almost a full second late on the hit after Silfverberg was stripped of the puck. He will forfeit $440,860.29 (U.S.) in salary as a result of the suspension.

This suspension is 11 games longer than the one given to Chris Simon in 2007 for stomping on the ankle of Jarkko Ruutu.

Torres’s previous high was 25 games for the hit on Hossa in the 2012 playoffs.

Marty McSorley was banned for a year in 2000 and wound up serving 23 games for his stick to the head of Donald Brashear, while Todd Bertuzzi served 20 games for attacking Steve Moore from behind in 2004.