Pacioretty knocked out
Hey gang:
Zdeno Chara hit Max Pacioretty hard into the stantion right at the end of the Bruins' board, and Max crumpled to the ground. He appeared to be knocked out, and he was immediately immobilized and taken off on a strecher. Please pray for Max. It just happened at the end of the second period.
My prayers are with him. I have not seen the hit, was it a dirty hit by Chara?
The Bruins announcers just said that the Candiens' Management told them that Max is at the hospital and has movement in all of his extremeties. Considering the hit and how he went down, this is good news.
Chara is not a dirty player, and I think it was a just a freak accident.
Hope he's well.
Love seeing UM players succeed in the NHL, even if their careers were more brief than would have been ideal.
That is the worst looking hit I've seen in a long long time, possibly ever. I don't know his condition, and obviously hockey is a secondary thought at this point, but if he returns to the NHL, it would be a major victory for someone who experienced such a violent collision.
This did look bad, but in my opinion the hit was not intended. It looked as though Chara just was looking to play the body and it turnd into a freak accident.
Matt Cooke had a dirty hit against Marc Savard a few seasons ago which was worse than this, only because of the intention of the hit.
I agree it probably wasn't intentional on Chara's part just a bad decision compounded with bad luck, and I also agree that the Savard hit was majorly dirty.
But when I first saw this, I thought I had just witnessed Pacioretty's death. He's extremely lucky to be doing as well as he is.
I first heard about the hit and then read that he has movement so my reaction to the hit was a little different than most of you out there. Since i knew he was moving i already had a sense of relief when watching the hit.
but it wasn't clean. Max didn't even have the puck and that beast hammered him. Not only that, but he definitely shoved him toward the end of their collision right into the stantion so I am not really sure how you can say it wasn't dirty.
I always find it funny when people watching a hockey game think they know what the intent of a player is. Having played at a high level most of my life I can tell you that you have no idea what is going on in a guys mind out there. It doesn't take too much effort to make it "look" like you aren't really trying to hurt someone...
Full disclosure, I am a Montreal fan but would it change your opinion to know that at the end of the game the last time these two teams played Max and Igor had a beef? Also, if you think that a player of Chara's calibre doesn't know exactly where he is on the ice at all times I say bullshit. He knew where he was and knew what he was doing, that makes it dirty in my book.
I hope he is alright...that was truly scary
EDIT: I want clarify what I meant...its not that Chara's hit itself was dirty, but you cannot do that at that part of the ice...that should be a suspension for sure and that middle stansion is what made the hit dirty. That was one of the worst impacts I have ever see.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jimZ1tSdPY0
That was disgusting to watch. I am certainly hoping he is alright. I don't think it was dirty, but the more I watch it is definitely noticable that Chara gave a shove. Hard to say whether he knew the position on the boards though. Aside from that, big win for the Canadiens. Go Habs Go, and good luck to Max.
I did a quick search on Chara to see if he has a history of dangerous/dirty hits and youtube brought up nothing. The NHL is going to looking into this hit, it is mandatory under game misconducts, and review it to see if a suspension is warranted, i would think since he has no history of such hits he should be fine.
It was a unforunate situation and it sounds as though Max Pacioretty should be ok in terms of severe injury.
Poor guy! Looks like just back luck. A check on the boards but with his head overhanging... I hope he's okay. Ouch. My neck hurts so bad watching that.
Imo It was as dirty as they come, The puck was long gone and he shoved him right into that stantion. If you listen to the audio the announcer says those two have a history. That leads me to believe it was completley intentional. Hopefully the NHL will give Charra a major suspension.
Pacioretty and Chara have a history over a couple of games now where Chara's been shown up by him and Max has been a little cocky. They got into it in that brawl in Boston a couple weeks ago as well, and more than one guy took a poke at Max later on that night.
I've watched it a couple of times, and the reverse angle is what makes me say it's dirty. Chara looked to his left, put his hands on Max, saw the stantion coming, and pushed at just the right time. The guy isn't a dirty player, don't get me wrong. I think he's great for the league and he plays hard all the time. I think their history just got the better of him in that moment and he was trying to send Max a message. I think it got out of hand though because I don't think Chara always realizes just how much bigger or stronger he is than almost anyone else in hockey.
From the updates, it sounds like he's doing ok now, but that was a bell ringing of epic proportions.
That has got to be one of the nastiest concussions ever. I hope he hasn't had any recent head trauma before this incident.
Not that I have any clue what Chara was thinking at the time, but they bumped and then Chara finished his check. I don't think he intended to knock him out, but TRUST ME, as a former hockey player you know right where you are on the ice when the glass starts at the end and middle of the benches. He didn't intended to injure him, but I would think he almost certainly wanted to rock his world into the glass between the benches. This is a dangerous part of hockey and I hope and wish Patch a speedy recovery.
The league may do well to suspend Chara for a game or 2 anyway. I know he's not a dirty player and this was more an accident than anything else, but players still need to be held accountable for their actions.
First we are all praying that Patches will be alright. Forget hockey, just want everything to turn out OK. Early reports are that he has a bad concussion but is moving, talking, etc.
Dirty and premeditated. Chara has been targetting Patches this year, at least three occasions previous.
If you've played hockey, even at a low level, you know where you are at all times. This guy is one of the top d-men on the planet, he knew exactly where he was, where Patches was, who he was hitting and how. Watch Chara's head checking out his bearings and his arm come up to drive Patches' head into the glass.
The city is up in arms over this. Prediction: no suspension at all.
Everyone here is now calling Patches 'Wolverine', after the comic book!
If he hits him 0.5 seconds later he's checking him into the boards. It's not a nice thing to do but Habs fans who think Chara intentionally had him hit that stanchion overestimate the ability of a guy that size to control his movement at high speed. It's certainly a reckless act by Chara to hit him in that location on the ice and deserving of something of a suspension (2-3 games would be fair in my mind), but Habs fans calling for him to be jailed are pretty lol.
Buddy, Chara is one of the best defensemen on the planet and you think he can't control himself on skates? Watch the replay and see how he is watching where he is on the ice, checking out the boards and shoves Max head-first into the stantion. That was no accident. Did he intend it to be as bad as it turned out? I highly doubt it. Chara isn't by nature a dirty player but this was clearly intentional IMHE.
As to your last point, anyone saying the guy should be jailed needs a labotomy. Hockey is hockey and hits happen. Even though it was a little dirty IMHE, I am not certain it even deserves a suspension because the only thing that really would make it dirty is know Chara's intent, which no one really does. I think it was dirty, but the only proof of that is knowing what he was thinking while making the hit and I can't say for sure what that was.
Bad hit, pray for Patch and move on. Colon Campbell stay the Fu*k out of it (I spelled the asses name wrong on purpose both because he says it that way and Colon certainly suits the ass).
The hit wasn't accidental, the fact Pacioretty's face hit the stanchion was. A guy like Chara, at that size, isn't changing directions on a stamp when he is skating at speed. He commits to the hit, if he hits him just a fraction earlier or later he goes against the board on the bench or into the glass after the bench (which is probably what was intended). The "shoving" the head into the stanchion part is him finishing the motion of checking a guy. Chara wanted to deliver a message but the message wasn't to "destroy Pacioretty's head", it was just supposed to be a tough hit in a rivalry game.
I don't know how you can say it's intentional but then go he shouldn't be suspended. If you believe a guy would actually plan to a force another player's head against a stanchion to injure him, you should advocate for him to be banned for life because that would show complete disregard for safety or fairness taken to extremes.
I said I didn't know if it was dirty because the only thing that makes any play in hockey dirty (and not say...an accident) is the intent of the player. You can't simply suspend a guy because of the reult of a play. It was a horrific result, but if Chara didn't intend to injure him he shouldn't be suspended.
I played highly competitive hockey right up until I failed to get drafted out of the CHL. I know the game and how it is played. If you don't understand how hitting someone is intentional while an injury that occurs as a result of the hit doesn't necessarily have to be...I don't know what can be done for your comprehension of the game. I think from the footage that Chara intended to hit him, likely intended to ring his head off the "turmbuckle" as hockey players call it, but didn't intend to have the guy suffer a serious concussion and fractured vertabrae.
Checking someone into the turmbuckle isn't illegal, it happens frequently without penalties. What I believe makes the hit dirty is the fact that Max diidn't have the puck and wasn't expecting to be slammed into the boards because of that fact. By the rules of the game that is interference and not something that deserves a suspension.
Now do you understand why I think the hit was somewhat dirty but not necessarily deserving of a suspension?
Via MichiganHockey.net's Twitter:
Max Pacioretty's agent spoke with CJAD 800AM, says he has concussion but could be out of hospital today. Great news! http://t.co/Z
Good news indeed! Get well soon, Max!
The Habs say he has a severe concussion and a non-displaced fracture of the C4 vertebrae and will remain hospitalized.