A Victim of Circumstance

Despite dodging a suspension from the NHL, Zdeno Chara has taken serious heat for his bone-rattling check on Montreal forward Max Pacioretty during the Bruins' 4-1 loss to the Canadiens earlier this week. 

At a time when points are at a serious premium, the story behind Tuesday night's 4-1 loss at the hands of the hated Canadiens was not the fact that the Bruins failed to take advantage of a golden opportunity to distance themselves from the surging Habs. Instead, the lasting vibrations circulating from Boston's no-show at the Bell Centre stem directly from a violent and controversial hit delivered by Zdeno Chara on Montreal forward Max Pacioretty.

While fighting for a loose puck late in the second period, Chara and his massive frame rode Pacioretty directly into the sideboards near the Bruins' bench (a play the Boston Captain has made thousands of times throughout his career). However, instead of bouncing off the glass that aligns the vast majority of the rink, Pacioretty slammed head first into the poorly padded stanchion that supports the glass partition separating the two benches. The grizzly collision sent Pacioretty immediately to the ice where he laid face down, motionless for several minutes before being taken off the ice on a stretcher.

Chara was promptly issued an interference minor as well as a major and game misconduct, earning an ejection from the game with 15.8 seconds remaining in the second period. After being rushed to the hosptial, Pacioretty was diagnosed with a severe concussion and fractured vertebra.

Since then, the hockey die-hards in Montreal have watched the horrific replay countless times and been whipped into a frenzy. They are clamoring for Chara's head and nothing less will suffice.

However, while images of the bone-rattling collision make the hit look uncalled for and over-the-top, a further review of the play reveals something entirely different. Chara did not leave his skates or blind-side Pacioretty. He simply cancelled him out of the play by angling him into the boards. Had the hit occurred at any other spot on the ice, Pacioretty would have been fine. Unfortunately the episode took place at the most dangerous spot in a hockey rink: the poorly padded, glassless stanchion between the two benches.

In a memo released after the hit, the NHL explained that it did not suspend Chara because "it was a hockey play that resulted in an injury because of the player colliding with the stanchion and then the ice surface."

Regardless, the Habs faithful refuses to admit that the Pacioretty hit was more a product of misfortunate than intention on Chara's part. And, even though the NHL deemed the hit legal (yet unfortunate) and refused to suspend Chara, Canadiens fans continue to protest and riot over the play.

On Thursday they went a step further, launching an official police investigation into the hit by Chara. In addition, Air Canada (the popular airline and long-time NHL sponsor) threatened to withdraw its sponsorships unless the league changes its rules against serious injuries.

In an interview with TSN's Bob McKenzie, Pacioretty fanned the flames even more when he said "I am and disgusted that the league didn't think enough of the hit to suspend him. I'm not mad for myself, I'm mad because if other players see a hit like that and think it's okay, they won't be suspended, then other players will get hurt like I got hurt."

However, it must be noted that although he is regarded as one of the most physically imposing and powerful forces in the league, Chara is by no means a dirty player. He plays the game hard. He plays the game the right way. And, in his 13th NHL season, Chara has still never been suspended for an illegal hit.

"I obviously feel bad about what happened," Big Z said recently about the incident. "I'm trying to make a strong hockey play and play hard. Unfortunately the player got hurt and I had to leave the game."

Chara seems to simply be a victim of circumstance. A victim of being too big and too strong. A victim of hitting a player legally but at the worst possible spot on the ice.