I really don't think so. It would require a great amount of awareness to realize what part of the player's bench boards your on to realize where the divider is, and that type of check is made all the time. Chara was looking to put him in the bench, and unfortunately, made a bad judgment along the lines of where he was on the play. Just very unfortunate.

What was routine about that? Either Chara thought about the danger he put a helpless player in, or he didn't. Either you like the attention hits like that bring to your sport, or you want to protect the players from themselves. I think we know where the NHL stands on that.

maxpac just wants someone to blame. no one can take accidents for accidents anymore.



at 55 seconds the slow mo from the other side shows that chara wasn't even looking at pac when he pushed him.

MaxPac feels it was intentional and he's pissed the league played with themselves instead of doing something about it

http://www.tsn.ca/columnists/bob_mckenzie/?id=357332

What's routine is playing a guy on the boards, interference or not. Chara (nor any player for that matter) isn't thinking "Oh boy, there's that 1/100 part of the ice that juts out. Better not hit him," [or like you guys are saying "Better end his career."]) No. Chara is playing the boards, no matter which side of the ice he's on. He's not gonna let up. It's not part of his game, nor should it ever have to be. He's never been considered dirty, just physical. He's a great defensman, but I think as Sabres fans, we're all butthurt because it's Chara.

I have no problem with the lack of suspension. He's NOT Cooke, Avery or some other douchbag who makes his living boarding people for 2 minutes a night. he's been in the league for years and hasn't done anything suspend able (except the last playoff series, I know) The point is he did not do it on purpose, players get tossed onto the bench all the time, if anything I blame that dumbass post for being right there.
Can't we just put a mini divider there and suspend the shit out of people that reach over it? that way people don't get slammed in the face like this.
Chara seems genuinely sorry, and anything that wears on his mind and possibly affects his game is good enough for me. The good thing is that Max isn't paralyzed or dead.

I'm saying that it was obviously not intentional. He didn't jump off his skates to blast some poor guy in the head, Chara doesn't do that. Guys like Cooke and Gilles do crap like this at alarming rates, Chara does not. And no way in hell is there intent to injure. People get rubbed out along the boards all the time, on this one there just happened to be some dumbass pole sitting there. I'm not attacking you, I just don't feel like Chara smashing Max's face into a pole was premeditated.

After Penguins winger Matt Cooke gave Bruins center Marc Savard a severe concussion with a blind-side hit to the head last March, the league introduced Rule 48, which mandates a major penalty and game misconduct (or match penalty) for anyone who delivers a "lateral or blind-side hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principle point of contact."

Penguins winger Pascal Dupuis, who got a concussion when knocked into the boards by a hit from then-New York Islanders defenseman Andy Sutton last season, called Rule 48 "a big step in the right direction," and Rupp was contemplating it as he lined up a hit on Bruins forward Gregory Campbell.

"He was getting a pass in the slot, and I was coming from his opposite side," Rupp said. "My first thought was, 'He doesn't see me. I'm going to get a good hit here.'

"At the last second, I'm like, 'Is that a blind-side?' and I let up. I didn't need to hit him hard, because I just bumped him and he fell and I got the puck."

"Following numerous requests from news media, we are sending you this message to inform you that the Ministry of Public Security, at the request of the Director of Criminal and penal, asked the Police Department of the City Montreal (CMPS) to conduct an inquiry into the events at a hockey game between Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins on March 8," the Montreal police said in a statement issued Thursday. "No further comment will be issued on this subject yet."

And now, bring on the RCMP.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=357361

Here's an interesting quote from an NHL player. Those of you who think that players are just mindless reactionary robots who can't be held responsible for their own actions might find this shocking.

If I had decided to jerk off instead, I probably wouldn't be paying child support...