Could the rumors of a spinal injury be some sort of "morbid gamesmanship", to milk out the maximum punishment?
- Tanuki

No, what I have heard sounds worse than what the Hawks have released.

Who cares how many games fricking Raffi Torres gets? He's a headhunter and a marginal NHL player otherwise.

Why would he have been stablized in a stretcher if not?
- John Jaeckel

Precautionary. Assume the worst hope for the best, it's first responder SOP with suspected head/neck injuries. Since Hossa was out cold, head/neck was a safe assumption.

This!

Again, not trying to troll here, just my assessment as an impartial observer.

Daniel Sedin is still out from that intentional elbow and it may have cost them their playoffs for this year. Keith? he got a nice rest for the last few regular season games that really didnt mean anything, and was back in time for the playoffs.

I am also having a hard time seeing the reasons why the Torres hit was the catastrophe many are making it out to be. was it late? maybe a bit, but it is a fast game. Hossa had just played the puck, from what I saw, so he was fair game for a second or two. It was not a blind side hit, it was head on. contact with the head was made, but it wasn't a flying elbow, it was shoulder. this is one of the key components, but heads are hit all the time in bodychecks, that doesnt mean you suspend the guy every time.

the biggest issue is torres leaving his feet. there is no doubt he did come off the ice, but as the snow from his skates shows, he was in the process of stopping. maybe it was to launch himself, maybe it was to lessen the impact (not likely, but still a possibility).

Hossa was facing Torres, and should have seen the hit coming. not to blame him for his injury, but having just played the puck, you have to expect a hit, especially when you know a guy like Torres is on the ice.

My thought is that given the evidence of a charge, and no penalty on the play, I would say a 1-2 game suspension (these are playoff games remember!) at most would be suitable. I would also not be surprised if no suspension was levied.

Given that they carted him off on a stretcher, and that shanahan is apparently drawing the number of games from a hat now, your guess is as good as mine.
- jarmstrong

Once again who cares. Hossa got hit yesterday not Keith. I could care less which one is worse or better or the same. This was one isolated incident by Keith, Torres has been trying to dislodge heads for a couple years now.

JJ,

Ive seen plenty of people get carted off the ice on a stretcher to only see them in the stands an hour later. Everything is precautionary. Even with a broken jaw or anything neck related they would assume the worst and want to stabilize.
- Boisy12

Soft tissue around the spine. No bone or nerve damage. And a concussion.

The way to get this kind of crap to stop. Suspend Torres the rest of the playoffs and the entire 2012-2013 season and playoffs. Take away a year of guys career. As well make Phoenix play with 1 less guy on the bench the rest of the playoffs. Meaning they can only dress 19 guys instead of 20. Extremely harsh but you do this, teams and Goons will think twice about hurting themselves and their teams by running other teams players.

Lets just get it all out there right now...so we can move on.

I am done with trying to figure out the NHL. It's just mind numbing to understand anything. Certain sets of rules for certain guys, and make examples out of lesser players. I get that they need ratings but when you have a guy taking a guys head from behind and ramming into glass multiple times, and have your supposed star player who supposedly has a history of head injuries, trying to pretend he's next the Basil MacRae and nothing serious comes out it...then what do we all expect? I haven't seen 1 set of officials control a game yet. Maybe they miss idiot McCreary that much. Maybe the owners/management need to start having refs suspended for blatant stupidity? It's beyond old, and it's hard to defend a niche sport so much when haters just look for reasons to pont and laugh.

It's truly turning out to be the WWE.

Before people start gong all meathead, I had no problem with Q not having somebody run a Vrbata, Doan, Yandle, Whitney, Smith....Couldnt' do it until you were up a few goals, but at some point...all hell is going to break loose in this series.

Torres is a classless act. He's proven that time and time again. Hossa...if this guy plays again in this series, I'll be floored, let alone these playoffs.

I don't usually blame refs, but not giving a 5 minute major last night was huge. Penaltlizing them instead, was a joke. As bad as that PP is, nobody knows if they score with the crowd going crazy, them seeking vengenance for Hossa, and the Coyotes on their heels....