My opinion matters!!
Mar. 9th, 2011 07:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spottoHockey stuff today.
Not really about the Canucks. After they won in overtime against Phoenix I stuck by the TV to watch the highlights of other games with my dad. The biggest story in hockey at the moment isn't a particular game, but a hit that occurred on Montreal ice yesterday. A player, Max Pacioretty, had his head smashed into the stantion (the panel of glass between the two benches) by Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins. Anyone who knows anything about hockey knows that Zdeno Chara is a behemoth of a player, standing at six foot nine. No other player is as tall as him, with the next tallest (I believe) six foot six (Steve Macintyre from the Edmonton Oilers). The average for hockey players appears to be six one or something.
Here's the hit. I must warn anyone who hasn't seen this yet that it is graphic, so watch at your own risk.
Pacioretty fell unconscious as a result, and it's been reported that he has a severe concussion and a fractured vertebrae. Unrelated but interesting to note is that the Bertuzzi-Moore incident occurred on the same day seven years ago, when the Vancouver Canucks were losing 9-0 (or the score was something like that. Perhaps 9-3? Don't remember, not important) and Bertuzzi wanted retribution from Moore after he broke Naslund's leg in an earlier game. He sucker-punched Moore in the back of the head when Moore refused to fight him, which caused a pileup of players trying to get Bertuzzi off him. Moore too suffered a severe concussion and fractured vertebrae. However, he fractured more than just one and supposedly suffers from brain damage that ended his hockey career.
So, why is Spotto bringing this up?
The major discussion for hockey fans at the moment is whether or not that hit was clean. The NHL ruled that there was no intent to injure and there the hit itself wasn't dirty whatsoever. The hit just happened to unfortunately occur at the worst possible place it could, and so rather than a giant headhunting, it was moreso an unfortunate accident thus Chara not being suspended or fined. I've seen the reaction from the Montreal team, they don't really address whether or not it was a dirty hit (which leads me to believe they don't think it was) rather voicing concerns about why such a 90-degree angle stantion is even there.
It is interesting to note that the play itself technically was illegal, in that it was interference, since the puck was long gone from Pacioretty's stick, but again the debate is whether or not the hit itself is legal or not. The NHL has spoken, and the majority of Montreal fans too have spoken. The ruling from the NHL has outraged many Canadiens fans who believe that it was a dirty, intentional hit. There is a still-shot of the incident that exists that they claim proves Chara had intent to injure. Here's the (again, rather graphic) image:
So, now with all the facts out of the way...and after all the responses I've observed, I've come to this conclusion:
I think the best angle to watch this hit would be the one from the Boston feed. They show the view from the benches rather than from the ice. Now basically, is Chara watching Pacioretty as he hits him, or is his head facing the play? If it were the former, it may be evidence that it was indeed intentional, but the latter would mean he's just finishing his check, not paying attention that the stantion is even there, moreso focused on the game. The angle isn't really that great, since the camera seems quite far from the two players, but from what I can see it does look like Chara's eyes are strictly on the puck, so all he did was push Pacioretty. It's still quite hard to tell though. You can possibly argue he was watching Pacioretty while pushing him into the stantion. The other angle that is often seen seems to drive the point further. His eyes are only set on the puck.
So in my opinion there wasn't intent. First of all, I've known this guy's name since I've started following hockey heavily. (He's been playing for thirteen years!) I don't have too much of an opinion of the player himself. All I know is that he is the biggest hockey player ever, has the hardest shot ever, and that he plays on Boston. He was the leading candidate for the Norris Trophy this year (for best defenseman) so he's talented. Not once though have I heard his name being involved with a dirty incident. I've heard Cooke, I've heard Avery, Pronger, but not Chara. I have a friend of mine, a huge Montreal fan who would probably disagree with me right now. After all, Boston and Montreal have an ugly rivalry, one that surpasses many nasty rivalries that might exist here out west. Certainly a team I dislike greatly, like Chicago, if one of their players did something like that to a Canuck, well I'll probably be enraged too. I'll probably immediately jump to the conclusion that there was intent because I don't believe the players on Chicago are particularly classy.
But in the end, I just can't honestly see a person, especially a hockey player, really have the intent to take a guy's head off. Sure Bertuzzi was angry that Naslund was injured by a Colorado player, and he probably wanted to punch him in the head, since he did. I don't think he intended to end his entire career or cause brain damage, of all things. And the Bertuzzi-incident is completely different from this one. It was very clear what he did was wrong. This on the other hand was an incident that happened so fast people could barely think before they act. Consider that Chara did see that stantion there? Is his first thought going to be "I'm going to smash this guy's head off?".
I do however disagree with how the league handled it. His punishment probably shouldn't have been severe, but I would've at least given him a couple of games. You have to be responsible for your actions after all, even if you don't intend them to happen. That's what involuntary manslaughter is, isn't it? You do something stupid, and someone gets hurt. You didn't want them to get hurt, but Chara did deliver a late hit, and he should remember that he towers above other people and therefore his strength will be stronger than someone else's. A simple nudge from him could do a lot more to someone else than an average-sized NHL player. I also don't like how he responded to that incident. He simply skated away. He never checked if Pacioretty was okay, and from his tweets he doesn't even sound very concerned about the player, simply stating that the stantion was there and that players would run into them. I don't really think Pacioretty would be so clumsy as to run into one all by himself. It's very clear that if Chara was not there his head would not be smashing into a stantion. How many times has someone run into that thing by himself?
Also please don't do ridiculous things like call the cops and complain, Habs fans. (Just read an article that Montreal fans clogged emergency lines filing criminal complaints on Zdeno Chara :\)
As always, best wishes to Max Pacioretty in a complete and speedy recovery. Hopefully he can return to hockey!
BOLD are for tl;dr people. :P
Not really about the Canucks. After they won in overtime against Phoenix I stuck by the TV to watch the highlights of other games with my dad. The biggest story in hockey at the moment isn't a particular game, but a hit that occurred on Montreal ice yesterday. A player, Max Pacioretty, had his head smashed into the stantion (the panel of glass between the two benches) by Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins. Anyone who knows anything about hockey knows that Zdeno Chara is a behemoth of a player, standing at six foot nine. No other player is as tall as him, with the next tallest (I believe) six foot six (Steve Macintyre from the Edmonton Oilers). The average for hockey players appears to be six one or something.
Here's the hit. I must warn anyone who hasn't seen this yet that it is graphic, so watch at your own risk.
Pacioretty fell unconscious as a result, and it's been reported that he has a severe concussion and a fractured vertebrae. Unrelated but interesting to note is that the Bertuzzi-Moore incident occurred on the same day seven years ago, when the Vancouver Canucks were losing 9-0 (or the score was something like that. Perhaps 9-3? Don't remember, not important) and Bertuzzi wanted retribution from Moore after he broke Naslund's leg in an earlier game. He sucker-punched Moore in the back of the head when Moore refused to fight him, which caused a pileup of players trying to get Bertuzzi off him. Moore too suffered a severe concussion and fractured vertebrae. However, he fractured more than just one and supposedly suffers from brain damage that ended his hockey career.
So, why is Spotto bringing this up?
The major discussion for hockey fans at the moment is whether or not that hit was clean. The NHL ruled that there was no intent to injure and there the hit itself wasn't dirty whatsoever. The hit just happened to unfortunately occur at the worst possible place it could, and so rather than a giant headhunting, it was moreso an unfortunate accident thus Chara not being suspended or fined. I've seen the reaction from the Montreal team, they don't really address whether or not it was a dirty hit (which leads me to believe they don't think it was) rather voicing concerns about why such a 90-degree angle stantion is even there.
It is interesting to note that the play itself technically was illegal, in that it was interference, since the puck was long gone from Pacioretty's stick, but again the debate is whether or not the hit itself is legal or not. The NHL has spoken, and the majority of Montreal fans too have spoken. The ruling from the NHL has outraged many Canadiens fans who believe that it was a dirty, intentional hit. There is a still-shot of the incident that exists that they claim proves Chara had intent to injure. Here's the (again, rather graphic) image:
So, now with all the facts out of the way...and after all the responses I've observed, I've come to this conclusion:
I think the best angle to watch this hit would be the one from the Boston feed. They show the view from the benches rather than from the ice. Now basically, is Chara watching Pacioretty as he hits him, or is his head facing the play? If it were the former, it may be evidence that it was indeed intentional, but the latter would mean he's just finishing his check, not paying attention that the stantion is even there, moreso focused on the game. The angle isn't really that great, since the camera seems quite far from the two players, but from what I can see it does look like Chara's eyes are strictly on the puck, so all he did was push Pacioretty. It's still quite hard to tell though. You can possibly argue he was watching Pacioretty while pushing him into the stantion. The other angle that is often seen seems to drive the point further. His eyes are only set on the puck.
So in my opinion there wasn't intent. First of all, I've known this guy's name since I've started following hockey heavily. (He's been playing for thirteen years!) I don't have too much of an opinion of the player himself. All I know is that he is the biggest hockey player ever, has the hardest shot ever, and that he plays on Boston. He was the leading candidate for the Norris Trophy this year (for best defenseman) so he's talented. Not once though have I heard his name being involved with a dirty incident. I've heard Cooke, I've heard Avery, Pronger, but not Chara. I have a friend of mine, a huge Montreal fan who would probably disagree with me right now. After all, Boston and Montreal have an ugly rivalry, one that surpasses many nasty rivalries that might exist here out west. Certainly a team I dislike greatly, like Chicago, if one of their players did something like that to a Canuck, well I'll probably be enraged too. I'll probably immediately jump to the conclusion that there was intent because I don't believe the players on Chicago are particularly classy.
But in the end, I just can't honestly see a person, especially a hockey player, really have the intent to take a guy's head off. Sure Bertuzzi was angry that Naslund was injured by a Colorado player, and he probably wanted to punch him in the head, since he did. I don't think he intended to end his entire career or cause brain damage, of all things. And the Bertuzzi-incident is completely different from this one. It was very clear what he did was wrong. This on the other hand was an incident that happened so fast people could barely think before they act. Consider that Chara did see that stantion there? Is his first thought going to be "I'm going to smash this guy's head off?".
I do however disagree with how the league handled it. His punishment probably shouldn't have been severe, but I would've at least given him a couple of games. You have to be responsible for your actions after all, even if you don't intend them to happen. That's what involuntary manslaughter is, isn't it? You do something stupid, and someone gets hurt. You didn't want them to get hurt, but Chara did deliver a late hit, and he should remember that he towers above other people and therefore his strength will be stronger than someone else's. A simple nudge from him could do a lot more to someone else than an average-sized NHL player. I also don't like how he responded to that incident. He simply skated away. He never checked if Pacioretty was okay, and from his tweets he doesn't even sound very concerned about the player, simply stating that the stantion was there and that players would run into them. I don't really think Pacioretty would be so clumsy as to run into one all by himself. It's very clear that if Chara was not there his head would not be smashing into a stantion. How many times has someone run into that thing by himself?
Also please don't do ridiculous things like call the cops and complain, Habs fans. (Just read an article that Montreal fans clogged emergency lines filing criminal complaints on Zdeno Chara :\)
As always, best wishes to Max Pacioretty in a complete and speedy recovery. Hopefully he can return to hockey!
BOLD are for tl;dr people. :P
