Montreal Police Investigate Hockey Hit

[Hyena Dandy]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puc...h?urn=nhl-wp27

For those not aware of the story, here's a quick rundown.

During a game between the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens [Sp?] one hockey player hit another hockey player, possibly paralyzing him and keeping him from ever returning to the game. Naturally, this is not good. The league investigated the hit, and ruled that it was a normal hit that went wrong. After that, from what I can tell, the police in Montreal decided to open up an investigation.

My opinion is fairly clear cut in the matter, though it may be colored by the fact that I live in Boston, where the guy who made the hit is from.

It feels to me, though as I said, possibly biased, that its not the job of the Montreal police to investigate a rough hit. I think the league probably knows what's normal or not in its sport better than any police department, and it feels like the Montreal police didn't like that the league decided it was alright, and decided to punish Zdeno if the league wouldn't.

But I'm worried I've got a hometown bias, and this may not be stupid after all. Thoughts?

[lordlundar]

A few points I need to point out:

1. One of the ranking members of the board for the NHL is the owner of the Bruins hockey club, so there's an assumption of bias in the ruling. (aka, if Chara wasn't a member of the Bruins, he's have been removed for the season at least)

2. The Montreal police department has been inundated with calls from the public demanding a police investigation, so this is more of an "alright, enough already!" response.

3. It's not the first time law enforcement has been involved, though it's the first where an investigation is being done after the player was cleared by the league.


Now as for the hit itself, either Chara knew what he was doing which wouldn't be a surprise considering that the NHL has devolved into more of an elimination match that any approach at skill, or he has no idea how to control his power which means the Bruins training regiment is insufficient for the player.

[HYHYBT]

Even aside from point 1 above, the NHL can't be assumed to be unbiased anyway: an intentional injury of this degree at the least makes them look bad, so if there's suspicion, it's best that someone outside investigate.

[Peppergirl]

I've been following this closely since it happened.

As a long time hockey devotee, I'm fairly unbiased - aside from having a close friend who is a rabid Bruins fan and season ticket holder.

To me, it was a clean hit. Chara doesn't have a history of big-time nastiness (at least by hockey standards) and I don't think intentionally drove his head into the turnbuckle.

It's reminiscent of the Bertuzzi/Moore (I can't believe its been 7 years already) incident, although this one was even more graphic and cringe worthy to watch, IMO.

The police getting involved? No. Ridiculous. Reckless? yes. Police involvement? Are you kidding me?

I'm horrified to think about what the next match up of these two teams will hold. They already hate each other and this will just exacerbate the hatred to the nth degree.

[Salted Grump]

I met Zdeno back when he played for Ottawa. He's a genuinely nice guy, and I seriously think it was a reckless and stupid act, but with no criminal intent.

Is the NHL not even bothering to give him a slap on the wrist? Most likely; With the owner of the Bruins as major voice in the NHL's investigatory committee, Chara Likely will get a 'bad dog, no biscuit' punishment.

Compare to the Moore/Bertuzzi incident; a Clear Cheap Shot, but It was proven in court that Moore's neck wouldn't have been broken if two if his teammates Hadn't dogpiled Bertuzzi onto him.

Bertuzzi was A: Publicly castigated, and B: Didn't play for at least 2-3 years, to the best of my recall.

As for further games between Boston and Montreal? As the old line goes 'I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out' There will be blood on the ice.

[BlaqueKatt]

It feels to me, though as I said, possibly biased, that its not the job of the Montreal police to investigate a rough hit.

But it is the job of the police to investigate a possible assault. Just because you play a physically rough game, does not give you carte blanche to possibly physically assault someone you have a history of altercations with.

the fact that Chara is claiming he "didn't know where they were on the ice" and that Pacioretty "jumped into the turnbuckle". Seems a bit off, especially as since the puck was no longer in Pacioretty's possession, the hit was illegal. Once the puck is chipped past you CANNOT complete a check, he did just that, knowing it was an illegal move, unless he's never played hockey before. The puck was almost to the goal BEFORE the hit, what was the reason for the hit, and since when does a body check involve your hand in the opposing player's face?

[FArchivist]

Ask BlaqueKatt so eloquently states, there are certain questions that arise. It would probably be best for the police to conduct an investigation simply to eliminate any charges of bias that might arise. I think it would help to quell any hatred between the teams, by having an independent forensic authority make determinations.

[Peppergirl]

I think it would help to quell any hatred between the teams, by having an independent forensic authority make determinations.

These two teams? Never. Ever. They have always hated each other, and regardless of the outcome of this investigation, it's only going to get worse..trust me.

[Gravekeeper]

I think he meant to hit him there ( There's no way he didn't know where they were on the ice and that the turnbuckle was coming up ) though I doubt he meant to hurt him that badly. Still, bad blood, down 4-0 and everyone knows where the turnbuckle is to avoid it. So yeah, he certainly meant too me thinks. That's one of those things they drill into you from day 1 not to do because of the risk of injury.

I'm surprised the league cleared it actually. If they'd suspended him, there likely wouldn't have been as big an uproar for a police investigation. In a way the NHL kinda brought this down.

[Hyena Dandy]

These two teams? Never. Ever. They have always hated each other, and regardless of the outcome of this investigation, it's only going to get worse..trust me.

And its an independent forensic investigation done by the police in one of the team's home cities.

[Greenday]

I'll have to view it but based on the article, I'm left believe in foul play. Considering this is the second time he's done this, and he's a professional hockey player, he has no excuse for saying he didn't know. As other players have said, once you've been playing on the ice, you know where this area is. There's no way he didn't know where it was.

Assault is to be determined by the police, not a committee run by the sport.

[lordlundar]

Like I said earlier, either he knew what he was doing which means he should have been suspended for several games, or he doesn't know his own strength which means he should be taken off the ice and trained until he can control it better.

Like him or hate him, but one thing Wayne Gretzky is known for is his total control on the ice. More players need that sort of practice (like half the league and roughly 80% of the enforcers).

[Crazedclerkthe2nd]

Like I said earlier, either he knew what he was doing which means he should have been suspended for several games, or he doesn't know his own strength which means he should be taken off the ice and trained until he can control it better.

Like him or hate him, but one thing Wayne Gretzky is known for is his total control on the ice. More players need that sort of practice (like half the league and roughly 80% of the enforcers).

One of my favourite memories is going to an Ottawa Senators/L.A. Kings hockey game in 1993 in which Wayne Gretzky got ejected.

Yes you read that right, the refs tossed Wayne from the game. Now it was late in the 3rd and the outcome of the game was already certain, but it was still crazy to see a guy who is known for his sportsmanship get tossed out of the game.

About the Chara thing:

I'm a huge hockey fan and it seems like whenever an incident like this crops up (Bertuzzi/Moore and Brashear/Mcsorley come to mind) there are calls for law enforcement to get involved.

Obviously as another poster mentioned, there is a certain level of physicality to be expected in a hockey game. The question that needs to be dealt with in these cases is: At what point does a hit or incident move beyond the realm of hockey roughness and into the realm of criminal conduct?

To me I don't think it was a crime. I think Chara DID intend to hit the guy hard but I don't think he intended to plow him into the stanchion and mess him up that bad. You hit someone in any sport and they can land one of a thousand different ways resulting in wildly different outcomes. An identical hit can leave one player almost unscated while knocking another out cold depending on any number of factors. When you throw a hit, you don't know for sure what the end result is going to be.

[lordlundar]

One of my favourite memories is going to an Ottawa Senators/L.A. Kings hockey game in 1993 in which Wayne Gretzky got ejected.

Yes you read that right, the refs tossed Wayne from the game. Now it was late in the 3rd and the outcome of the game was already certain, but it was still crazy to see a guy who is known for his sportsmanship get tossed out of the game.

I'm not saying he's perfect, far from it. But enforcers hated him because it damn near impossible to get a solid hit on him because of his ice control.

[Greenday]

You hit someone in any sport and they can land one of a thousand different ways resulting in wildly different outcomes. An identical hit can leave one player almost unscated while knocking another out cold depending on any number of factors. When you throw a hit, you don't know for sure what the end result is going to be.

But it doesn't help if he WAS trying to seriously injure him.