The Talk Around The Rink

[maddplotter]

What the hell is going on with the NHL?!!?? Chara does not get suspended after also snapping Max Pacioretty's neck in half? It's outrageous! Some of the league's best players are out due to injuries such as Savard and Crosby. I am sure some of you out there can not wait to chime in on this subject.

[Rockheart]

Air Canada and Via Rail are demanding that the NHL suspend Chara.

Is it all just hype because of the media and the press about concussions.

I guess in the old days, what we didn't know can't hurt us.

Didn't they have a lot of head injuries in the old days when there was no helmets?

They are currently studying Reggie Fleming and Bob Probert's brains.
Bob donated his brain to science.

[phillyguy83]

Thing is, now we're just figuring out how bad concussions are. But you can only do so much, even a titanium helmet can't stop the brain from moving around inside the head. As for the old days, players weren't moving as fast typically as they do now.

[phillyguy83]

As for the Chara hit, go figure. I once talked to an NHL game official and asked him how does he work. He says it's like being a judge, you have to use your own frame of reference. So, I'm guessing somewhere up top someone important felt the hit wasn't suspension worthy.

[Guest]

...Didn't they have a lot of head injuries in the old days when there was no helmets?

Hi Crag,

I think in the old days, hitting wasn't so prominent in the sport as it is today. Yes, there were body checks and cross checks, etc, but i think there was a little more respect for other players back then.

Hockey was once a gentleman's sport.

GO Als GO!! Wait, wait...that's baseball, right?
I know all about sports, as you can tell.

Oh well.
Babe,
xoxo

[solidtank]

well i have played sem pro hockey in my yonger days and i can tell u that the chara hit was just a freak accident.....he didnt mean to put him into the turn buckle he just was finishing his check....that has happened so many times but they are making a big deal about it cause of all the concussions......its a contact sport there is gonna always be things like this.....they get paid well for a reason

[Telvin]

Very late hit that should not have happened. Pacioretty had chipped the puck ahead at the blue line, that hit happens at almost the red line. That is too long a period a time for that to be a legal hit. Pacioretty did not even have control of the puck to begin with, and the puck was no where near him when the hit happened. The puck was already crossing the far blue line. There was plenty of time to Chara to disengage from the hit, which is what he should have done.

Chara made the very bad choice of taking him into one of the most dangerous spots on the boards to hit someone. Then there is a little push right at the end of the hit that did not help the situation. Bottom line, Chara is guilty of a very bad and dangerous hit. There should be consequences, and more than a 2 minute penalty.

[tslisaparadise]

what the hell is going on with the nhl?!!?? Chara does not get suspended after also snapping max pacioretty's neck in half? It's outrageous! Some of the league's best players are out due to injuries such as savard and crosby. I am sure some of you out there can not wait to chime in on this subject.

oh please,chara didnt deserve to be suspended hes a clean player what are you gonna suspend him for being too big?blame the habs for having seamless glass and not padding the stantions.theres three reasons why theres so many head injuries first and foremost is the players are bigger and faster second the shoulder pads and elbow pads are hard as a rock and lastly they wanted to get rid of the left wing lock and trapping thank new jersey so they took out the redline and boom the game opened up but and now offensive defencemen have more room to send a hailmary up the middle and bang suicide passes on a daily bacis.before the lock out it was easy for a defencemen to hold up there opposition and slow them down but now there entering the blueline at speeds never seen before and the only way now to help out is no touch icing and thats coming faster then you think.

[Telvin]

theres three reasons why theres so many head injuries first and foremost is the players are bigger and faster second the shoulder pads and elbow pads are hard as a rock

the only way now to help out is no touch icing and thats coming faster then you think.

I used to be very much against no touch icing. But for the reasons above, and all the recent serious injuries, I am a convert. Bring the rule in before someone is killed, not after.

[mitsu]

oh please,chara didnt deserve to be suspended hes a clean player what are you gonna suspend him for being too big?blame the habs for having seamless glass and not padding the stantions.theres three reasons why theres so many head injuries first and foremost is the players are bigger and faster second the shoulder pads and elbow pads are hard as a rock and lastly they wanted to get rid of the left wing lock and trapping thank new jersey so they took out the redline and boom the game opened up but and now offensive defencemen have more room to send a hailmary up the middle and bang suicide passes on a daily bacis.before the lock out it was easy for a defencemen to hold up there opposition and slow them down but now there entering the blueline at speeds never seen before and the only way now to help out is no touch icing and thats coming faster then you think.

Lisa.......u don't know diddley squat about hockey.........if u look at the replay of this hit, Chara is actually directing Max towards the turnbuckle.........he had no reason, but retaliatory, to do this, as he's been having a running feud with him.......the NHL closed their eyes on this one............

Mitsu (a Habs fan, if u haven't guessed by now)

[tommygun]

There was absolutely nothing wrong with Chara's hit. It wouldn't have even happened if was not off balance when the hit took place.If you believe it was done on purpose then you have to accept a few things as facts; That Chara, who has no history of that kind of behavior, suddenly had a change of heart in the heat of the moment. That he deliberately waited until Pacioretty was off balance (due to making a charging attempt to get the puck). Found one of 3 areas in over 500 feet of boards, and managed to hit him at the right angle and speed to force him into it. And managed to do it all in less than half a second. Chara could have thrown his glove at Pacioretty and knocked him into the glass with the way this all happened. Lee Harvey Oswald killing JFK is more believable than this.

It was an unfortunate incident where all the "right" things happened at once to lead to a catastrophic hit. Don't blame Chara because the people who design NHL rinks are more concerned with filling arenas to capacity than they are with the safety of the athletes. Why does a 90 degree angle even exist in a hockey rink?

[tslisaparadise]

Lisa.......u don't know diddley squat about hockey.........if u look at the replay of this hit, Chara is actually directing Max towards the turnbuckle.........he had no reason, but retaliatory, to do this, as he's been having a running feud with him.......the NHL closed their eyes on this one............

Mitsu (a Habs fan, if u haven't guessed by now)

your a moron, go talk to your gay boys at your regular bar seat at goodhandys who think your actually smart

[tslisaparadise]

There was absolutely nothing wrong with Chara's hit. It wouldn't have even happened if was not off balance when the hit took place.If you believe it was done on purpose then you have to accept a few things as facts; That Chara, who has no history of that kind of behavior, suddenly had a change of heart in the heat of the moment. That he deliberately waited until Pacioretty was off balance (due to making a charging attempt to get the puck). Found one of 3 areas in over 500 feet of boards, and managed to hit him at the right angle and speed to force him into it. And managed to do it all in less than half a second. Chara could have thrown his glove at Pacioretty and knocked him into the glass with the way this all happened. Lee Harvey Oswald killing JFK is more believable than this.

It was an unfortunate incident where all the "right" things happened at once to lead to a catastrophic hit. Don't blame Chara because the people who design NHL rinks are more concerned with filling arenas to capacity than they are with the safety of the athletes. Why does a 90 degree angle even exist in a hockey rink?

atleast somebody else knows about hockey,whers crags input i know he actually played the game.

[tommygun]

atleast somebody else knows about hockey,whers crags input i know he actually played the game.

I've played hockey for over 20 years. I've even had my run ins with the same portion of the boards. It's still is a wonder why hockey arenas still use padding that is not much more than what I pay $6 for at Home Depot to wrap my plumbing pipes. They should be using at least as thick padding as what you see on football goal posts. But even that is not completely safe. Don Cherry's suggestion to have the boards at a 135 degree angle is a great recommendation.

One of my most distinct memories from high school hockey was when my coach would scream at me to "finish my hit", as I was a bit notorious for a bump and run. What Chara did is done 100 timea a game in a perfectly safe manner. If that hit happened 3 feet further along the ice, we are not having this discussion.

I think people are giving Chara way too much credit for thinking he could do something like this on purpose.

[tslisaparadise]

I've played hockey for over 20 years. I've even had my run ins with the same portion of the boards. It's still is a wonder why hockey arenas still use padding that is not much more than what I pay $6 for at Home Depot to wrap my plumbing pipes. They should be using at least as thick padding as what you see on football goal posts. But even that is not completely safe. Don Cherry's suggestion to have the boards at a 135 degree angle is a great recommendation.

One of my most distinct memories from high school hockey was when my coach would scream at me to "finish my hit", as I was a bit notorious for a bump and run. What Chara did is done 100 timea a game in a perfectly safe manner. If that hit happened 3 feet further along the ice, we are not having this discussion.

I think people are giving Chara way too much credit for thinking he could do something like this on purpose.

the problem is it happened to a montreal canadian who has the worst fanbase in the N.H.L. period,they think the hockey gods are against them and there jelous cause everything is ran out of toronto and not montreal,notice the air canada spokesman backed down when bettman told him if he has a problem with the way we run our game then we can spend millions of dollars on another airline?typical from the french there gutless.