1. None of the 4 zebras claimed to have seen it. So either no one was watching the play or it was well behind the action. Can't have both.

2. When you leave your feet, you're trying to aim for more than shoulder contact. You're aiming for the head.
- busmaster

First of all, thanks for actually responding to my argument instead of simply being an ass. As for your first issue, I would say that referee mistakes are frequent misfortunes. For instance, look at the clowe incident against the kings. Was that behind the play? No. the refs just missed it. It happens sadly.

To your second response, I see what you mean. Obviously if you're leaving your feet you're not looking to make a clean shoulder to shoulder, shoulder/chest hit. But are you always going straight for the head? Who knows. We don't play in the nhl and have never done this.

Seems to me you guys were talking about Karma a few weeks ago, no?
You were right, it is a b****.

Sorry yall.
- Whiskey-Tango

Shouldn't you be getting ready for the annual Vancouver bon fire tonight? You can never pack enough brooms

The word idiot does apply to you then. Moron would be fitting too.
- EKolb13

Ignorant, cognatively challenged, Dumba$$, dolt...?

Not bone or nerve. Soft tissue.
- John Jaeckel

Not a doctor but sounds like a bruised spine. Not good by any means and I's assume they'd have to keep a close eye on it for swelling which could cause problems.

But I pray its nothing worse then that.

This is ridiculous. You're arguing that in .8 seconds, a player has the ability to completely change direction, stop, or otherwise avoid the hit, where in .5 seconds they do not? Now I know, that a player probably gets a second or so lead time as they're skating towards a player to see that the player is passing the puck based off his movements, but the difference between the .5 and .8 seconds does not make this a 'very late hit'.

Torres charged, he left his feet. He connected primarily in the chest, but continued upwards and caught the jaw also, and with a lot of force. It's an illegal hit in many different ways, but I'm not sure it was so late that it should be a big consideration.

I expect 4 games, which eliminates him from this series minimum.

NHL players are all tested 1, 2, or 3 times a year. They do not know how often or when they will be tested.
- BleedBlueSTL

Yes, in fact a player can decide not to jump up into a players head!!!!!!!! Would he have hit Hossa, would he have hurt Hossa? If the players can't make decisions at full speed then how do they do everything else at full speed in this game. He knew what he was doing, he has done it many times.

Great post Rain Man...and Sharp equally to blame on the 2nd...no one and i repeat NO ONE picking up the trailers in this series. TERRIBLE D-ZONE coverage by the forwards.
- philco28

+ 1. All this suspension talk with Torres and Shaw and let some guys off the hook. Sharp's lack of backcheck on the 4 on 4, Kane fing around with the puck when he had 2 guys driving the net. Leddy looked tired. Toews does not look like himself. Kruger not getting the puck out or deep at least 3 times.
I did think Kane played well besides the OT turnover, and it was nice to see the effort by #67

Ignorant, cognatively challenged, Dumba$$, dolt...?
- Ogilthorpe2

Yeah, those fit too...

Seems to me you guys were talking about Karma a few weeks ago, no?
You were right, it is a b****.

Sorry yall.
- Whiskey-Tango

Have you booked your tee time tomorrow? Me thinks you should...

I was told Bettman and Fehr were both together at the game last night.

BTW, my early info. on Hossa is not good.
- John Jaeckel

I think Bettman and Fehr were both at the game, but not together.

I feel for you guys. It sucks losing one of your best players (espcially in the playoffs) to a sensless, dirty hit.

Take out the instigator and see if these kinds of hits still happen. I'm sure guys would be a little less inclined to make a stupid play if they new there was a massive a$$ whooping coming their way.

Didn't he slew foot Stalberg later on too?
- jhawk159

It was either that or he kicked Stalberg's feet out from under him.

I said it earlier, but I'll say it again. The league needs to go to more of a fixed suspension system.

Hit to the head = 2 games
Involving an elbow =2 games
Charging as well = 2 games
Leaves his feet = 3 games
Late = 2 games
Intentional = 3 games
Player (on the receiving end) leaves the game =2 games
Repeat offender = 3^(x-1), where x is number of times suspended. So first suspension 0, second = 3, third 9, fourth 27, and fifth 81.

A panel of five reviews each the play and votes on each category. If the majority check yes then the player in question gets the allotted number of games for the category.

The panel could consist of:
1 player (NHLPA rep?)
1 coach
1 team executive (all 3 from other conference)
1 referee
1 NHL executive

IF a vote is 3-2 for a category, a player may appeal to a new panel of 5 whose decision is absolutely final.

- wkol2593

LOVE IT

Shouldn't you be getting ready for the annual Vancouver bon fire tonight? You can never pack enough brooms
- Sconnie

question... i was at the game and did not see everything that unfolded over the ice after the second period scrum. i was watching kane getting roughed up against the boards and then the goalies, who skated to center ice before heading to the exits....

how the hell from all that did just toews get a roughing call? we went from starting the 3rd period on the PP to 4-on-4 and having to kill a penalty. again, i admittedly wasn't watching the captain so was wondering how we got the only penalty once again from a scrum after the whistle.

Great post Rain Man...and Sharp equally to blame on the 2nd...no one and i repeat NO ONE picking up the trailers in this series. TERRIBLE D-ZONE coverage by the forwards.
- philco28

It's too bad. place was going crazy during that first period. That was shaping up to be a HUGE turning point. Team bonded together, fought for each other, and looked to be in control...Just couldn't burry the Coyotes, and mental lapses just killed them.

Thursday could get UGLY really fast. I bet we see 1 of the top pair of officials in that one, to get control of it.

BTW, WTF is Bowman at? This is perfect time to come down, and rip the NHL for the Shaw incident and then that. Instead he relys on his captain and Coach to do it, where he should make a stand go crazy on the NHL. You know damn well that Tallon would have to be restrained from going into that official dressing room post game..even with Bettman in the building.

First, I agree completely that Torres deserves a nice long suspension for this. 10+ games.

However, your arguments of how it differs from Keith's hit are all just superfluous information unrelated to what should determine suspension length:

Keith was retaliating, not cheap-shotting unprovoked as Torres was. So what? Players need to be in control of their actions, regardless of whether or not they are upset. And that's not something that is supposed to effect suspension length.
Keith was penalized on the play, Torres wasn't. So what? The competency of in-game officiating is in question fairly universally, including in this blog. In-game officials competency isn't something that is supposed to effect suspension length.
Blackhawks had someone suspended recently, Vancouver hadn't. Again, so what? Torres is in no way at fault for Shaw's hit, and the fact Shaw got himself suspended has nothing to do with Torres hit. The fact Torres threw a dirty hit on someone playing for a team still shorthanded from throwing their own dirty hits isn't something that should effect suspension length.

Torres has a history of suspensions, and that should get his ban longer than Keith's. But many Blackhawks fans are coming off as very hypocritical considering their own player was head-hunting and taking out star players less than a month ago.
- Antilles

I cant speak for everyone but I publicly condemned that hit and I believe most here did also. It turned my stomach and I was pissed.

So I still dont understand how in your world somehow Hossa needs to pay for a hit Keith made and how the Hakws fans responded to that hit.

Even if we (<--the fans) were hypocritical on the kieths hit, although I'd say a majority condemned it. It should play NO BEARING on how others perceive THIS HIT. Makes no sense to me.

I feel for you guys. It sucks losing one of your best players (espcially in the playoffs) to a sensless, dirty hit.

Take out the instigator and see if these kinds of hits still happen. I'm sure guys would be a little less inclined to make a stupid play if they new there was a massive a$$ whooping coming their way.
- fiveandagame

I'll disagree on this. With last night, Bollig went after Torres and took a 2 and a 10. Torres went back out there and kicked Stalberg's feet out from under him.

Obviously that didn't deter Torres and his dirty play.

Not a doctor but sounds like a bruised spine. Not good by any means and I's assume they'd have to keep a close eye on it for swelling which could cause problems.

But I pray its nothing worse then that.
- mvp0207

If it were - would he be walking to the car from the hospital under his own power, as was indicated last nite?

A terrible Tuesday with an awful trifecta, Shaw-Hossa-Game 3 Loss. On My Fox Chgo:http://bit.ly/HSgggs

Plus a SiriusXM audio link.

On Twitter@AlCimaglia
- Al

>Yep, we are in total agreement of the need to go back to the one-ref system
>And, as you say, what's lost in all the furor over the Torres hit and "no-call" is the fact that the Blackhawks were DENIED A FIVE MINUTE POWERPLAY and actually HAD TO KILL A 2 MINUTE PENALTY!
>Having that 5 minute powerplay might have made a huge difference in the game
>Hawks for the most part are a very young team and it's showing in their D-zone coverage
>Brent Seabrook = a true Blackhawk
>Maybe if Toews gets his legs back soon, good things can still happen
>Wondering if Sharp is playing through a groin injury

Yes, in fact a player can decide not to jump up into a players head!!!!!!!! Would he have hit Hossa, would he have hurt Hossa? If the players can't make decisions at full speed then how do they do everything else at full speed in this game. He knew what he was doing, he has done it many times.
- droe411

Calm down and re-read the post. All I said is it wasn't late.

It's too bad. place was going crazy during that first period. That was shaping up to be a HUGE turning point. Team bonded together, fought for each other, and looked to be in control...Just couldn't burry the Coyotes, and mental lapses just killed them.

Thursday could get UGLY really fast. I bet we see 1 of the top pair of officials in that one, to get control of it.

BTW, WTF is Bowman at? This is perfect time to come down, and rip the NHL for the Shaw incident and then that. Instead he relys on his captain and Coach to do it, where he should make a stand go crazy on the NHL. You know damn well that Tallon would have to be restrained from going into that official dressing room post game..even with Bettman in the building.
- SteveRain

Bowman didn't get permission to yell at anyone so............

For anyone that has watched the pacific this year it's no surprise raffi throws a hit like this. He has been charging throwing elbows and just plain out a gong show all year. At least once a game that scumbag throws at someones head. This is just the first time everyone saw it, and now hockey gets to deal with the fallout. Sick of this thuggery play the damn game.
- onac22

Yep

I will tell you fatty, based on the tone of the press releases—and what I heard and saw from Q's reactions and what I heard about some conversation that took place last night, it is very puzzling. Meaning, there is more to this right now than is being said publicly.
- John Jaeckel

One can only look foolish predicting Shanny's next move...

But with his history Torres could be done until sometime in October.

Also, I would be surprised if Q. isn't fined for his post game comments...Although 100% correct.

A terrible Tuesday with an awful trifecta, Shaw-Hossa-Game 3 Loss. On My Fox Chgo:http://bit.ly/HSgggs

He really did look horrid. Leddy totally got pushed around. What's even worse is that he allowed it to happen. He was a total no show on the defensive side of things.

Oduya didn't look all that hot last night either, especially when he was paired with Leddy. I'm at the point where you can toss that defensive paring in the trash.

If Leddy is going to be on the ice from here on out, it should be third paring minutes and he should only be paired with Seabrook.
- EKolb13

Agreed, I know my buddy Savvyone loves Leddy, but he has horrible last night. Way too noticeable. Saw was Kruger.

Bolland is definetly hurting (back), skating very gingerly, and not very noticeable. This is supposed to be his time of year.

I'd pair with Hammer with Oduya...Oduya is similar to Campbell, and Hammer was very good with 51....Leddy needs to be hidden until he can step up and make an impact.

The biggest problem with the hit is that it was unnecessary. Torres had Hoss dead to rights and could have just drilled him, shoulder to chest, and destroyed him. There was no reason to explode up into the face, whether you want to argue that was the point of contact or not. What ever happened to just a hard bodycheck with the shoulder to the chest? He could have killed Hossa without hitting him high. Just skate right through him, don't launch yourself upwards. Points to the element of a lack of respect amongst peers and that is the root of these problems. The refs suck and Shanny is a puppet, but if players would just play the body instead of trying to maim the other guy (Torres, Keith, Neal, whoever), a lot of the crap would be avoided. Modano said it best on Twitter last night, "Way to show off our game, no wonder why out TV deals suck."

Also mostly unmentioned was the coward Torres going down to his knees and hiding when Bollig came to collect. You want to run around and run people and play on the edge, so be it...but at least answer the bell when you choose to play that way. Just cowardice from a big bad a$$ running aound like an idiot.