My thoughts on Chara hit

because clearly you all live under a rock and haven't heard enough about this already.

We'll get it out of the way, so here's the hit if you haven't seen it yet....



and here is an excerpt from the official ruling, which you can read in its entirety here.

"After a thorough review of the video I can find no basis to impose supplemental discipline. This hit resulted from a play that evolved and then happened very quickly -- with both players skating in the same direction and with Chara attempting to angle his opponent into the boards. I could not find any evidence to suggest that, beyond this being a correct call for interference, that Chara targeted the head of his opponent, left his feet or delivered the check in any other manner that could be deemed to be dangerous.

"This was a hockey play that resulted in an injury because of the player colliding with the stanchion and then the ice surface. In reviewing this play, I also took into consideration that Chara has not been involved in a supplemental discipline incident during his 13-year NHL career."

Now for my two cents. It is easy to watch this hit and and scream for Chara's head on a plate. If you listen to the chants of "Fuck you Chara" in the video above you can see Habs fans were ready to take it right there. You can't begrudge them for their reaction. If that happened to a player on a team I support in their home arena, I'd want revenge as well. You can't expect any less from passionate fans, regardless of location.

The fact of the matter is, that this is NOT a suspendable hit under what everyone seems to think is the be all end all of NHL rules, the infamous Rule 48, which states (as per the NHL's website)

Rule 48 - Illegal Check to the Head

48.1 Illegal Check to the Head – A lateral or blind side hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principal point of contact is not permitted.

48.2 Minor Penalty - There is no provision for a minor penaltyfor this rule.

48.3 Major Penalty - For a violation of this rule, a major penalty shall be assessed (see 48.4).

48.4 Game Misconduct – An automatic game misconduct penalty shall be assessed whenever a major penalty is assessed under this rule.

48.5 Match Penalty - The Referee, at his discretion, may assess a match penalty if, in his judgment, the player attempted to or deliberately injured his opponent with an illegal check to the head.

48.6 Fines and Suspensions – Any player who incurs a total of two (2) game misconducts under this rule, in either regular League or playoff games, shall be suspended automatically for the next game his team plays. For each subsequent game misconduct penalty the automatic suspension shall be increased by one game.

If deemed appropriate, supplementary discipline can be applied by the Commissioner at his discretion (refer to Rule28).

Watch the hit again with these guidelines in place. It does not fit . While it is a lateral hit, the head is NOT the principle point of contact. For those that would argue this still shot as an example, that's called a follow through. It's forearm to shoulder at best with the hand coming forward, as i doubt Chara is a contortionist.

So, if you haven't figured it out yet, I agree with the NHL's ruling for once. Before you ask, no I am not a Bruins fan either. I am simply looking at this hit within the guidelines as set up by the NHL. And here's the kicker, IF the NHL punished the injury and suspended him for a few games, I wouldn't have protested. Disagreed absolutely, but the fact remains that the NHL has a tradition of punishing the injury and not the play. The referees did that last night, by handing out a major penalty and a match misconduct. Ultimately this is a play that any defenseman could and would make to prevent what would be an odd man rush and scoring chance. It is a tragic result and everyone should keep Max Pacioretty in their thoughts. The NHL had a rather difficult decision to make, and I believe that at the end they made the right one. Unfortunately this is a no-win situation for the league. Should they suspend people would say it's excessive, and since they didn't people are saying they should. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.