Headshots

The two most recent “headshot” incidents in the NHL evoke a bigger picture that the NHL brass has to take seriously. When police in Montreal announced that they were launching an investigation into the hit delivered on Max Pacioretty by Zdeno Chara and league sponsors proceeded to chastise the league and threatened to pull out, the “headshot” problem showed that not only is it not going away, but it is threatening to become even worse. This was followed shortly afterwards by a vicious elbow to the head delivered by public enemy number 1, Matt Cooke, whose harsh suspension was almost inevitable given his past and the current hysteria surrounding both Cooke and this issue.

Nearly everyone who saw the hit on Pacioretty agreed that it was a terrible incident (Pacioretty suffered a severe concussion and a non-displaced fracture to the fourth cervical vertebra in his neck), and everyone wishes Max a speedy recovery. However, there was a tremendous amount of disagreement with regards to whether the hit deserved a suspension. In addition, many placed blame on the insufficient padding on the area of the rink where Pacioretty’s head made contact. It also seemed as if, outside of Montreal, the overwhelming opinion was that a criminal investigation was laughable.

The Chara hit was not the first time that someone has been ridden hard into the stanchion. Don Cherry on Coach’s Corner showed a montage documenting many cases of similar hits. However, the resulting injury here made this incident particularly newsworthy. The severity of the injury was compounded by the fact that Pacioretty is a speedy player and Chara is an enormous individual. Watching the video it is clear that Chara interfered with Pacioretty. After the puck is dropped it is whipped to Chara’s right by the Habs center. Pacioretty and Chara both race for the puck. Chara attempts to bat the puck back into the Habs zone, but is unsuccessful. Pacioretty chips the puck past Chara and then accelerates around him to the left. Chara, realizing he is about to see Pacioretty blow right by him, drives Pacioretty into the boards with his arm and shoulder. Pacioretty’s head then collides violently with the stanchion resulting in the terrible injury he sustained.

The first thing to notice here is that at no point does Chara make contact with Pacioretty’s head. The second important point is that if this had taken place on the opposite side of the ice, where there is no break in the glass for the benches, it would likely not have been anything more than a simple interference penalty without the horrific injury. Should Chara have received a suspension? The suspension question becomes more and more complicated with each passing incident due to the inevitable rush to look at recent comparable incidents and the resulting discipline, or lack thereof, meted out. With each decision reached by Colin Campbell, the sample size with which to work becomes larger for critics. Discrepancies between similar incidents will become tougher and tougher to defend.

I don’t believe that Chara deserved a suspension for the hit he delivered on Pacioretty. Chara’s intent is known only to him. All we can do is look at the video and take our best guess. To me, it’s fairly clear that had he not interfered with Pacioretty, an odd-man rush would have resulted going the other way. In that moment, Chara was simply trying to take him out of the play in order to prevent an odd-man rush. The fact that the incident took place in the only area of the rink where a simple interference could result on a violent head collision leading to a concussion and a fractured vertebra should not be held against Chara.