The Chara incident

[will]

this is why there should be a suspension that equals the amount of time the injured player is out. chara would never have done what he did if that were the norm, and pacio wouldn't have been stretcher-ed off the ice.

[TheMatrix31]

I don't see how anyone can say this hit wasn't dirty.

 

In my short time watching this game, I quickly realized Chara has to be the dirtiest son of a bitch in the league. Unreal.

[Weave]

BTW, if you haven't noticed, there is a very good reason that Chara gets booed loudly in almost every visiting arena. He is a bully, hits late every chance he gets, and almost never lays a hand on any player over 5'9". If the refs called every penalty he commits, he'd have more minutes than almost any other player (with very few fighting majors). Maybe someday he'll get what's coming to him - but I'm not holding my breath!

 

Yep. Chara is dirty but usually in a very subtle, "I can get away with this" kind of way. He is huge and knows that he can hurt folks with minimal effort and does it in very subtle ways, like late hits and high hits that he knows usually go uncalled. And he gets flustered very easily. There is no doubt in my mind he knew where he was in that rink. It's not like he hasn't played there a bunch of times before. And there is enough recent history with the Habs and Pachiorety (sp?) directly involving him to convince me that he saw the opportunity in a game where they were getting crushed and took advantage of it. I doubt he meant to put Pach on a stretcher but there is no doubt in my mind that he meant to ride Pach into that corner post.

 

It is past time for the league to get serious about intent to injure plays. He needs 10 games minimum but will probably get 2 or 3.

[Eleven]

He may have but I really doubt it. I just think it was an unfortunate accident. Players hit that glass all the time (IE. Ennis, tonight). Here's a question, Why is the glass at a right angle anyway? Instead of a corner, there should be a piece of glass at a 45 degree angle for just this reason. I'm betting that if there was, again, we wouldn't even be talking about this.

 

I don't agree with your view of the incident, but this is a really, really good idea. (Even better than the shovels that Quinn invented.)

[rbochan]

I hope Pacioretty's alright.

 

The scumbag knew exactly what he was doing. Chara didn't just hit him at an unfortunate moment when he was vulnerable. He hit him cleanly, but then pinned him and rode him along the boards - all long after the puck was gone. But don't forget, suspending him would hurt Greg Campbell's playoff chances. I bet we see Chara on the ice Thursday night. Campbell will take his time making any kind of ruling. Chara seems to get away with suspendable offenses, like hitting people after the game is over. Since Chara has a history with Pacioretty, I don't think this was an accident.

[Eleven]

Bob McKenzie has a pretty balanced column on the incident. I agree with most of what he says, but I think suspensions for this type of play need to be longer to have any real deterrent effect:

 

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=357203

[Eleven]

GR reporting that Chara will have a disciplinary conference call today, and that accordingly, any suspension must be less than 5 games (otherwise, an in-person visit is required).

[Taro T]

Bob McKenzie has a pretty balanced column on the incident. I agree with most of what he says, but I think suspensions for this type of play need to be longer to have any real deterrent effect:

 

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=357203

I'd agree with most of what he has to say, but the fact that the score is 4-0 and there are only 16 seconds left in the 2nd when this happens tells me that the interference was unnecessary.

 

Add in a bit of past history, and while I doubt Zdeno meant to ###### him up that badly, I can't see how he didn't intentionally put him into the bench/boards.

 

These guys know where the benches are and how badly they're going to mess someone up if they drive a guy into the boards there. Again, I don't think he was trying to kill him, but there clearly was no 'respect for your opponent' there either.

 

My guess is 2-3 games. Slightly different circumstance, but didn't Lemieux get 10 for bashing Draper's face into that spot?

[Guest]

No one can watch this video and say that Chara didn't know exactly what he was doing. He pushed Pacioretty with both arms into the divider intentionally and it's obvious when you watch the replay. That overgrown POS should get at least 10 games, but because of who he is and who he plays for, I see maybe 2 games if anything. That poor kid looked dead while he was lying motionless for almost 7 minutes with his face melting into the ice. I can't believe no one on Montreal went after Chara a little bit more aggressively. Hopefully next game they get retaliation. I just hope Pacioretty is alright, it didn't look good last night. Just listen to the impact at full speed, sounded like a car wreck.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx2AxYxgqRA

[Stoner]

In real time, it just looked like a hockey play to me. The puck wasn't gone so long that he couldn't have hit him. I'm actually surprised there was a penalty and there probably shouldn't be a suspension.

 

And I am the contrarian!

 

You're only supposed to have an "immediate" period of time after a player loses possession to check him. But you're right. This might not be a penalty somewhere else on the ice with no injury resulting. Not because it's not a penalty, because it's the NHL.

 

They've allowed late hits to the point of making the rule book meaningless. Kaleta has made a minor career out of doing it even later than this Chara hit.

[SwampD]

No one can watch this video and say that Chara didn't know exactly what he was doing. He pushed Pacioretty with both arms into the divider intentionally and it's obvious when you watch the replay. That overgrown POS should get at least 10 games, but because of who he is and who he plays for, I see maybe 2 games if anything. That poor kid looked dead while he was lying motionless for almost 7 minutes with his face melting into the ice. I can't believe no one on Montreal went after Chara a little bit more aggressively. Hopefully next game they get retaliation. I just hope Pacioretty is alright, it didn't look good last night. Just listen to the impact at full speed, sounded like a car wreck.

 

I can.

 

I'm just glad that all us Sabres fans haven't had our judgment clouded by watching him play against us for a decade. :wallbash:

 

I would take Chara on the Sabres in a second,.. even today.

[spndnchz]

 

 

Ouch. That padding is useless.

[Guest]

I can.

 

I'm just glad that all us Sabres fans haven't had our judgment clouded by watching him play against us for a decade. :wallbash:

 

I would take Chara on the Sabres in a second,.. even today.

Now look at the still shot chz posted and tell me there was no intent? Chara knew exactly what he was doing. We've got our Chara, a much cleaner version in Tyler Meyers. I wouldn't want Chara or Bertuzzi in a Sabres uniform. There is a big difference between hitting someone clean and hard and trying to decapitate someone. That hit was malicious.

[SwampD]

And I am the contrarian!

 

You're only supposed to have an "immediate" period of time after a player loses possession to check him. But you're right. This might not be a penalty somewhere else on the ice with no injury resulting. Not because it's not a penalty, because it's the NHL.

 

They've allowed late hits to the point of making the rule book meaningless. Kaleta has made a minor career out of doing it even later than this Chara hit.

Yep. Penalties are penalties and injuries are injuries. The NHL (and some fans) think that just because an injury occurs, that a penalty should be called (I won't even go into the absolutely ridiculous idea that a player should be suspended for the length of time as the injured player is out). Boarding is the call that always gets me. It happens all the time but only gets called when the guy gets hurt.

[shrader]

Again, this is another case of the NHL digging their own grave. They've ignored the interference for so long and now it happened in the worst place possible. Way to go NHL. Rulebooks can actually get the job done if they're enforced.

[SwampD]

Now look at the still shot chz posted and tell me there was no intent? Chara knew exactly what he was doing. We've got our Chara, a much cleaner version in Tyler Meyers. I wouldn't want Chara or Bertuzzi in a Sabres uniform. There is a big difference between hitting someone clean and hard and trying to decapitate someone. That hit was malicious.

You have to look at the play in real time (well, I do anyway). I'm not going to make a judgment based on a 1/30th of a second slice of time.

[Guest]

You have to look at the play in real time (well, I do anyway). I'm not going to make a judgment based on a 1/30th of a second slice of time.

I have the replay posted in real time and the first time I saw it I thought it was malicious. Puck is gone, Chara rides him and finishes him off with a two handed shove into the partition. Not hard to see the intent. Just listen to the sound at real speed. Chara is a huge guy shoving a smaller player into the most dangerous part of the rink and Chara has been playing long enough to know EXACTLY where he was. He could have easily let up and let Pacioretty's own weight take him into the glass. He didn't need to help him along with the extra shove right before contact.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

Yep. Penalties are penalties and injuries are injuries. The NHL (and some fans) think that just because an injury occurs, that a penalty should be called (I won't even go into the absolutely ridiculous idea that a player should be suspended for the length of time as the injured player is out). Boarding is the call that always gets me. It happens all the time but only gets called when the guy gets hurt.

 

Bingo

 

There are 40 times a game a player could be seriously hurt by a questionable physical encounter. Because they are elite athletes, they don't get hurt often.

 

Montador could have paralyzed that guy last night. It should be a 10 games suspension for that hit alone, right?

 

This is where the pussification of the game actually hurts players. Someone does that against Philly in '77 and 20 guys take Chara out. When manmade laws trump morals and common sense, you are left with inefficiency and apathy.

[shrader]

Bingo

 

There are 40 times a game a player could be seriously hurt by a questionable physical encounter. Because they are elite athletes, they don't get hurt often.

 

Montador could have paralyzed that guy last night. It should be a 10 games suspension for that hit alone, right?

 

This is where the pussification of the game actually hurts players. Someone does that against Philly in '77 and 20 guys take Chara out. When manmade laws trump morals and common sense, you are left with inefficiency and apathy.

 

If someone does that against Philly in '77, they would have been moving half as fast and the hit would have ended 5 feet short of the partition. We can compare the eras all we want, but the game is completely different now. Why should they be judged under the same exact standards?

[Eleven]

Yep. Penalties are penalties and injuries are injuries. The NHL (and some fans) think that just because an injury occurs, that a penalty should be called (I won't even go into the absolutely ridiculous idea that a player should be suspended for the length of time as the injured player is out). Boarding is the call that always gets me. It happens all the time but only gets called when the guy gets hurt.

 

Montador last night? There was no injury; there was (rightfully) a penalty.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

Montador last night? There was no injury; there was (rightfully) a penalty.

 

I think to expand on it, if the guy was taken off on a stretcher, then people go nuts crying for suspension.

 

Is the hit not just as dirty with or without injury? Half an inch difference in landing and the guy shatters his c4 and never walks again.

 

 

I'm not a fan of suspension in general except for extreme cases. I guess the game is watered down now so i don't know what to say.

[LGR4GM]

should we start a Chara Thread? Seems there is mixed opinion on this but, Chara should be suspended as he clearly was trying to knock pacioretty into the benches and well, missed. I hope he is ok and heard on WGR he regained consciousness on the way to the hospital and could move his extremities. If a sabres player did this exact hit, say Weber does it, I think 5 games would be the minimum because I am not sure you or anyone else could say that "o he wanted to bounce his head off the partition". Further thought, Montreal should have cleared their entire bench to beat Chara down... or at least tackle his *ss to the ice.

[shrader]

Bob McKenzie has a pretty balanced column on the incident. I agree with most of what he says, but I think suspensions for this type of play need to be longer to have any real deterrent effect:

 

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=357203

 

I'm fine with everything he wrote. I do think the intent was there, but it's obviously something you can never prove.

[Robviously]

I'm fine with everything he wrote. I do think the intent was there, but it's obviously something you can never prove.

You don't need to prove it. Punish him like it was intentional (which it was) and hopefully it'll be a long time before another player does something this brutal again.

 

The goal is to make sure this doesn't happen again. Fretting about Chara possibly doing this by accident, despite all the evidence to the contrary, isn't going to help accomplish that goal.

[shrader]

You don't need to prove it. Punish him like it was intentional (which it was) and hopefully it'll be a long time before another player does something this brutal again.

 

The goal is to make sure this doesn't happen again. Fretting about Chara possibly doing this by accident, despite all the evidence to the contrary, isn't going to help accomplish that goal.

 

This is the NHL we're talking about so your suggestion is pretty much pointless. They've already proven several times that they don't operate that way.