Montreal Canadiens’ Max Pacioretty in serious condition, mad at NHL’s Decision –NHL Updates
It was a scary moment for Montreal Canadiens in its previous match with Boston Bruins on Tuesday, when left wing Mac Pacioretty was smashed into a glass partition between the benches by Bruins’ captain, Zdeno Chara, remaining motionless for several minutes
after being finally carried away by paramedics on a stretcher with a neck brace in place.
Canadiens’ coach, Jacques Martin, updated the media after practise on Wednesday about Pacrioretty’s condition, saying that he has suffered a severe concussion and a non-displaced fractured fourth cervical vertebra in his neck, adding that his recovery is
the most importing aspect at the moment.
It is viewed by many experts that a lot worse could have happened, but fortunately did not due to the extra padding where his face hit and the quick response by the medical staff.
"He added another dimension to our team", Martin said. "It wasn't only his speed, but he played a very direct game. He did very good work around the net and in front of the goalie. He was strong on our power play. But it gives an opportunity to someone else
in our lineup to seize that chance".
Authorities at the NHL did thoroughly reassess the hit and conducted a hearing with Zdeno Chara and after careful review issued a statement which angered Pacioretty.
The NHL’s Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations, Mike Murphy, announced that there would be no disciplinary action taken against Chara in view of the incident and his 13-year NHL career which had no such incident in it before.
"I am upset and disgusted that the league didn't think enough of [the hit] to suspend him," Pacioretty said in an interview with TSN after learning about the decision. "Im 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".
The Canadian people were most outraged before and after the verdict, with many fans calling local police stations to register criminal charges against Chara and Canada’s federal minister for sport, Gary Lunn, also termed it as an unacceptable hit.
Analysts are divided over the decision, with some in favour of not penalising Chara and some carrying the view that he should be penalized and that such an action would intimidate other from doing it again.
They see Chara’s actions to be personally motivated but he says otherwise.
After practise at the Ristuccia Memorial Arena, he told reporters that he never meant for anyone to get hurt and never intends to hurt anyone. It was just a part of the play and sometimes someone gets hurt, that’s how hockey’s played.
Hockey is a fast paced and physical game, injuries happen everywhere in every sport, the best that can happen is to ensure reduction of fighting and personally motivated attacks.
Let’s hope that it won’t happen again when both teams meet for the last time this season in Boston on Thursday.
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