Quote:
Originally Posted by Sled Dog
I'm not sure that should be a suspension for Torres. He got the head, but Seabrook didn't have his head up.
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But that is the definition of the blindside shot to the head rule, you can't take out an opposing player with a hit to the head when their head is turned from you and they are completely unsuspecting/vulnerable. I agree that if you're stupid enough to cruise with your head down/looking back for a pass you deserve to have your clock cleaned but the fact that the hit was to the head and not the body is what made it an issue. Especially given that Torres is one of the players in the league with a reputation for big hits and he just came back from a suspension for a similar type of incident. Many other players could have done this and gotten away with a slap on the wrist, Torres past history will work against him here. I think he'll be lucky if the NHL only suspends him for the rest of this series and all of the next. In reality if he receives another long suspension that he'll be done for the year since Vigneault won't want to disrupt a winning lineup by bringing him back in again.
That also raises another point on the rules regarding head shots. Technically the player that was hit needs to leave the ice and go to the dressing room for 15min in order for a major penalty + game misconduct to be issued. Of course that isn't always followed, look at the last hit that Torres got 4 games for. However, if the player doesn't leave the ice the ref's have to ensure he's fit to continue, much like a referee in boxing. My question is, why in a scenario like the Torres-Seabrook hit is the player even given the choice of whether to continue without first going to the dressingroom? These guys are hockey players, not doctors, they don't have the training to diagnose themselves nor could you accurately self-diagnose just after receiving a head shot and concussion anyways. In the playoffs the players are never going to leave the ice, just look at all the other injuries they play through which they'd never do in the regular season.
Players taking a hit to the head serious enough to draw a penalty of any kind should be required to go to the dressing room for a look over by the team doctor. If the doctor says they're ok to continue then no harm no foul, it'll certainly prevent situations like last night where Seabrook really shouldn't have continued playing and didn't after receiving that second (clean, legal and particularly hard) hit from Torres.