Torres suspended 41 games..

[Jasmine]

....for illegal hit to the head of Jakob Silfverberg.

http://www.tsn.ca/sharks-torres-suspended-41-games-for-illegal-check-to-the-head-1.371405

:Flush:

[Alfie11]

Wow, huge suspension. Can't say it wasn't deserving, though.

[Josh]

Hahaha, love the toilet smilie. It's a HUGE suspension. He must feel like an idiot, especially considering it was pre-season. Apparently he forfeits almost half a million dollars in salary? For a guy like Torres, that's a big loss. Some people are saying he'll never play another game in the league, but I'm thinking he'll have it appealed down to 15 or so games.

[Jasmine]

The NHL is ready for the appeal..and they won't change their mind:

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl-has-compelling-case-to-uphold-torres-suspension-1.372600

[Josh]

The NHL is ready for the appeal..and they won't change their mind:

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl-has-compelling-case-to-uphold-torres-suspension-1.372600

Thanks for the link, that was a really interesting read. It does speculate at the end that it could be reduced by a few games. But yeah, my guess of it going down to 15 or so games is probably way off.

[matchesmalone]

Hm. My thoughts were along the same lines as Josh's. That this is just the NHL trying to send a message, but it will be reduced significantly after appeal; maybe not to 15 games, but something.

Silly that they go after Torres so hard for body checks. Yes it was a dirty hit, yes it deserved a suspension, and I get that the headshot/concussion thing is looming, but it's a bodycheck.

Duncan Keith is swinging his stick like a maniac and throwing up sneaky flyby elbows. Ovechkin has his patented hit from behind into the endboards. Marchand has his slewfoots. Lucic and Brown have their suckerpunches. Downie and Cooke had their flying elbows. Trevor Gillies has his attempted murder.

All of those are just as or more dangerous to player's heads, but all are easily removeable from the game. Hitting is not. Determining things like charging, whether the victim had his head down or saw them coming, whether they left their feet, intent to injure and all those variables on a bodycheck are so subjective and difficult to determine and regulate. Those other things are not.

Marchand slewfoots someone and they bash their head on the ice? 40 games easy. Lucic or John Scott punches an unsuspecting opponent with his glove on, and that player falls and bashes his head on the ice? Easy. Give him 50. Keith skates by and throws an elbow at an unsuspecting players' head? At least give him 10. A player is digging for the puck in the corner and a Zach Rinaldo or Daniel Carcillo rams their head into the boards from behind? Throw the fucking book at them. But 41 games for a shoulder check? Get real.

[Josh]

Hm. My thoughts were along the same lines as Josh's. That this is just the NHL trying to send a message, but it will be reduced significantly after appeal; maybe not to 15 games, but something.

Silly that they go after Torres so hard for body checks. Yes it was a dirty hit, yes it deserved a suspension, and I get that the headshot/concussion thing is looming, but it's a bodycheck.

Duncan Keith is swinging his stick like a maniac and throwing up sneaky flyby elbows. Ovechkin has his patented hit from behind into the endboards. Marchand has his slewfoots. Lucic and Brown have their suckerpunches. Downie and Cooke had their flying elbows. Trevor Gillies has his attempted murder.

All of those are just as or more dangerous to player's heads, but all are easily removeable from the game. Hitting is not. Determining things like charging, whether the victim had his head down or saw them coming, whether they left their feet, intent to injure and all those variables on a bodycheck are so subjective and difficult to determine and regulate. Those other things are not.

Marchand slewfoots someone and they bash their head on the ice? 40 games easy. Lucic or John Scott punches an unsuspecting opponent with his glove on, and that player falls and bashes his head on the ice? Easy. Give him 50. Keith skates by and throws an elbow at an unsuspecting players' head? At least give him 10. A player is digging for the puck in the corner and a Zach Rinaldo or Daniel Carcillo rams their head into the boards from behind? Throw the fucking book at them. But 41 games for a shoulder check? Get real.

I agree with everything in this post. I'm no fan of Torres, but it wasn't THAT bad of a hit and the punishment was far too severe. The NHL is posturing here because of all the concussion legislation. They're creating a precedent here, and for the wrong reasons. I suspect it also has to do with the player in question - no doubt the suspension would be much shorter if this was a star player.

[Matt the Aussie]

Hm. My thoughts were along the same lines as Josh's. That this is just the NHL trying to send a message, but it will be reduced significantly after appeal; maybe not to 15 games, but something.

Silly that they go after Torres so hard for body checks. Yes it was a dirty hit, yes it deserved a suspension, and I get that the headshot/concussion thing is looming, but it's a bodycheck.

Duncan Keith is swinging his stick like a maniac and throwing up sneaky flyby elbows. Ovechkin has his patented hit from behind into the endboards. Marchand has his slewfoots. Lucic and Brown have their suckerpunches. Downie and Cooke had their flying elbows. Trevor Gillies has his attempted murder.

All of those are just as or more dangerous to player's heads, but all are easily removeable from the game. Hitting is not. Determining things like charging, whether the victim had his head down or saw them coming, whether they left their feet, intent to injure and all those variables on a bodycheck are so subjective and difficult to determine and regulate. Those other things are not.

Marchand slewfoots someone and they bash their head on the ice? 40 games easy. Lucic or John Scott punches an unsuspecting opponent with his glove on, and that player falls and bashes his head on the ice? Easy. Give him 50. Keith skates by and throws an elbow at an unsuspecting players' head? At least give him 10. A player is digging for the puck in the corner and a Zach Rinaldo or Daniel Carcillo rams their head into the boards from behind? Throw the fucking book at them. But 41 games for a shoulder check? Get real.

This. Exactly this. Fantastic post Matches.

[Josh]

Here we go:

https://twitter.com/myregularface/status/651964515324665860