Torres’ hit sends Hossa to hospital
On the day that the NHL handed down four suspensions to combat escalating playoff violence, Chicago Blackhawks AllStar Marian Hossa left the ice on a stretcher.
Phoenix Coyotes forward Raffi Torres, a repeat offender, appeared to leave his feet when hitting Hossa on Tuesday. No penalty was called.
“Brutal hit. I saw the whole play,” coach Joel Quenneville said in an interview with NBC Sports Network. “One-hundred miles an hour. It was a brutal hit. I can’t believe four guys missed it. It makes me sick.”
Commissioner Gary Bettman was attending the game.
The Blackhawks said Hossa was released from the hospital.
“We are monitoring him closely at home,” team physician Michael Terry said. “We anticipate a full recovery in a timetable yet to be determined.”
Torres has a history with the Blackhawks and the league. Exactly one year earlier, Torres, then with the Vancouver Ca- nucks, clobbered Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook behind the net, though the headshot rule at the time did not allow for a suspension. That was his first game back from a fourgame suspension for a hit on the Edmonton Oilers’ Jordan Eberle.
This season, Torres was fined Dec. 31 for elbowing and suspended two days later for a charging incident in which he left his feet. Tuesday’s incident occurred on the day that Blackhawks rookie Andrew Shaw was suspended for three games for running into Coyotes goalie Mike Smith in Saturday’s game.
The Pittsburgh Penguins, meanwhile, will be without AllStar James Neal and Arron Asham in today’s potential elimination game.
Neal was suspended for a game for charging Philadelphia Flyers star Claude Giroux on Sunday. The league factored in his hit on Sean Couturier.
Asham received four games for cross-checking Brayden Schenn and punching him in the back of the head.
Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom will sit a game for cross-checking the Boston Bruins’ Rich Peverley.
“This has spiraled from out of control to total chaos,” agent Allan Walsh, who has led a campaign for concussion awareness, said on his Twitter account after the Torres hit. “Do we really need a player to die on the ice for this insanity to stop?”