The Ridiculousness of the NHL Supplemental Discipline Process

Last night, Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins almost killed Max Pacioretty of the Montreal Canadiens with a vicious check into the stanchion separating the benches. Here’s the hit:



Pacioretty did not move for many minutes. People were wondering if he was dead or not. Eventually, they were able to get him onto a stretcher and off to the hospital. Chara received a 5 minute major for Interference and a Game Misconduct for the hit.

And the debate began. Was this just a hockey play with an unfortunate outcome, or was this a vicious, dirty hit deserving of further discipline. I, for one, fall severely into the latter group. In watching the hit, I cannot believe this to be an accident. They skated along the entirety of the bench, and only at the last second, when they had arrived at the stanchion, did Chara finally throw his fist and forearm into Pacioretty’s head, driving it into the metal and taking him out. These guys have been playing hockey for decades. They know where they are on the ice and what is coming up. This hit was late and unnecessary, since the puck was long gone from the play. It was also dirty, being as Chara waited until the stanchion to thrust Pacioretty’s head into it.

Also taken into account must be the past history between the two players. In a game between the two teams in January, Pacioretty scored the game winning goal in OT, and then pushed Chara out of the way to go celebrate with his teammates…causing Chara to flip out and try to brawl with the celebrating team. Then, in the next game between the two teams, there were more fights than goals in a game that devolved into line brawls and dirty, cheap shots. So these two teams have a violent history…and the two players involved have a history…especially one of Chara not liking him.

And Chara had the audacity to BLAME PACIORETTY for the incident!

"It's very unfortunate that at the same time I push him a little bit he leaned over and jumped a little bit and just hit the glass extension, so it's very unfortunate"

Ridiculous!  You jam a player's head into the stanchion...a player you have repeatedly shown that you do not like, and then claim it was his fault for leading and jumping.  What a little bitch.

Finally, it turns out that Pacioretty’s injuries are really severe. He has a massive concussion and a fracture of the C4/C5 vertebra. He may never play hockey again.

This year, hits to the head have been dealt with pretty harshly. The Sharks’ Joe Thornton was suspended two games earlier this season when David Perron of the Blues skated into Thornton’s shoulder and got a concussion. The message is clear, the responsibility is on the hitter to be aware of their surroundings and what they are hitting.

So, of course, the NHL, in their ultimate wisdom, came to the following conclusion:

"I conducted a hearing with Boston Bruins' defenseman Zdeno Chara(notes) with respect to the major penalty for interference and game misconduct that he was assessed at 19:44 of the second period for a hit on Max Pacioretty(notes) of the Montreal Canadiens.


"After a thorough review of the video I can find no basis to impose supplemental discipline. This hit resulted from a play that evolved and then happened very quickly -- with both players skating in the same direction and with Chara attempting to angle his opponent into the boards. 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.


"This was a hockey play that resulted in an injury because of the player colliding with the stanchion and then the ice surface. In reviewing this play, I also took into consideration that Chara has not been involved in a supplemental discipline incident during his 13-year NHL career."

Wait, WHAT??????

Let’s break this down a little bit…

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,

Um…

left his feet

Chara is 6’9”. If he had left his feet, he would have MISSED PACIORETTY ENTIRELY!

or delivered the check in any other manner that could be deemed to be dangerous.

Lets ask Pacioretty if this was a dangerout hit or not...

It also bothers me to no end that they apparently decided not to look at the past history of between the two players…as well as disregarding the facts of what actually happened.

FACT:

What the league said today was this: If you are a star player on one of our favorite teams (The Bruins are an original 6 team, always favored. Also, the NHL’s disciplinarian’s son plays for the Bruins. So the Bruins are doubly favored), you can attempt to kill someone and not get punished at all.

If this was Joe Thornton delivering such a hit, he’d be suspended for at least 10 games. If this was Trevor Gilles delivering the hit (Gilles is currently suspended for 10 games for hitting someone in the shoulder), he would have been banned for life. But this is Zdeno Chara, golden boy of a golden franchise. Guess its going to take someone actually dying on the ice before the NHL actually takes this issue seriously and starts protecting their employees.