MONTREAL - No incident garnered more attention this season than the Zdeno Chara hit on Max Pacioretty. The hit, its devastating results, the image of Pacioretty face-down and unconscious for several fear-inducing and paralyzing moments, and the NHL's unwillingness to suspend Chara stimulated a widespread movement to awaken us from our passivity on curbing the culture of unnecessary violence in hockey.
It was what many viewed as the final straw in the head-shot circus that has engulfed the league in recent years. The incident provoked the immediate response that all similar incidents had failed to produce in the past, and it continues to stimulate changes where fans have adamantly argued changes need to be made.
Since the incident, an entire week of GM meetings was dedicated to establishing new protocols for players exhibiting signs of a concussion, consensus was reached on handing out more severe suspensions for players targeting the head with hits, and the competition committee established new members (including Michael Cammalleri) with the aim of making the game safer and revising current legislation pertaining to the removal of the "blindside" classification on rule 48--which deals specifically with the concept of intending to injure someone by targeting the head.
As Pacioretty figuratively met the media yesterday to discuss his two-year contract extension with the Canadiens, he revisited the incident that broke his neck and concussed him severely; the incident that could've kept him from earning this most recent contract. In his contemplation, he gushed with positivity and confidence that he would be ready to resume his hockey career with a physical frame that's seen a 10 pound muscle addition and a skating stride that's ramped up a few notches on the odometer.
It was refreshing to learn of Pacioretty's enthusiasm, even if some of it was dulled by the impotence of the National Hockey League in their decision to not suspend Chara for the devastating hit that ended his season. His opinion on the matter remains unfettered, having labelled Chara's hit a head-shot, classifying it as such even if it did not resemble a play that's become commonplace in the concussion-polluted environment of the NHL.
Ironically, as Pacioretty spent a portion of his conference call discussing an incident he'd rather forget, recently resigned NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell prepared for a breezy conversation with Rogers Sportsnet's Bob McCown and Globesports' Stephen Brunt on "PrimeTime Sports". That interview can be heard here.
Just past the four-minute mark of the interview, Brunt asks Campbell whether or not one specific incident had him come to terms with his future in the league's disciplinarian role. Campbell immediately points to "Chara-Pacioretty" even if he dulls the weight of that response by claiming it was more than just that. Most telling were his comments on the incident:
"We got accused of a lot of things. People outside of hockey got involved."
People--like the Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper. Campbell's office was scrutinized from every angle, and in the end, he wasn't even the one to make the decision on Chara, having deferred it to Mike Murphy who deals with all matters pertaining to the Bruins because Campbell's son Gregory was among those hoisting the Stanley Cup less than one week ago.
Regardless of Campbell's role in the decision on Chara, his resignation in light of the incident is another foothold in the uphill battle to clean up the game.
Another clear sign that we're progressing on the issue came during the Stanley Cup Finals, when interim incumbent Mike Murphy leveled Vancouver's Aaron Rome for his dangerous hit, on a vulnerable and unsuspecting Nathan Horton, with the longest suspension ever dealt in a final.
The hit was vicious, even if it wasn't from the blind side, and Murphy's decision was the first indication that the League will act as it said it would coming out of the March GM meetings.
That Chara escaped further punishment was an abysmal abomination, but had he received the slap on the wrist 2-game suspension most were lobbying for, perhaps we'd have not progressed as much as we have on the issue.
For the first time since the proliferation of head-shots and concussions, it would seem there's room for cautious optimism that things are being dealt with appropriately. Campbell's resignation and Brendan Shanahan's appointment aim at annihilating the gross inconsistency with which that office has doled out punishment. The movement towards clarifying the blurred lines of what constitutes a suspendable offence is unfolding.
Though the incident between Chara and Pacioretty is one we'd all like to put behind us, it resonates. When Pacioretty refers to the "positives" of that situation, his argument is well supported.
