Raffi Torres Suspended 25 Games

[chilly666]

NEW YORK - Phoenix Coyotes forward Raffi Torres has been suspended for 25 games for launching himself to deliver a late hit to the head of Chicago Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa during Game 3 of the teams’ Western Conference Quarterfinal playoff series in Chicago on Tuesday, April 17, the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety announced today

Should the 25 games not be served by the conclusion of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the remaining games of the suspension will carry over into the following regular season. Torres will be prohibited from playing in any preseason games until he has served this 25-game suspension (playoff and regular-season games).

Should the suspension carry over to next season, because he is classified as a repeat offender under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, Torres will forfeit $21,341.46 in salary for every regular-season game in which he is ineligible to play.

The incident occurred at 11:42 of the first period. Hossa suffered an injury as a result of the hit.

Torres already has served one game of this suspension, Game 4 of the series in Chicago on Thursday, April 19.

Following are statements from National Hockey League Senior Vice President of Player Safety and Hockey Operations Brendan Shanahan in announcing the 25-game suspension assessed to Phoenix Coyotes forward Raffi Torres:

“This is a violation of three NHL rules – interference, charging and illegal check to the head.”

“In addition to the fact that three separate NHL rules were violated with this one hit, two other factors were critical in determining the appropriate length of suspension:

“First, this violent and dangerous hit caused a severe injury.

“Second, Torres not only is a repeat offender as defined by the CBA, his extensive Supplemental Discipline history consists mainly of acts very similar to this one – including two this season.”

“Despite knowing that Hossa no longer has the puck, Torres decides to finish his check past the amount of time when Hossa is eligible to be bodychecked. That is a violation of the Interference rule.”

“While we acknowledge the circumstances of certain hits may cause a player’s skates to come off the ice, on this hit, Torres launches himself into the air before making contact. This is a violation of the Charging rule.”

“The position of Hossa’s head does not change just prior to or simultaneous with this hit. The onus, therefore, is on Torres not to make it the principal point of contact. By leaping, Torres makes Hossa’s head the principal point of contact. That is a violation of the Illegal Check to the Head rule.”

Phoenix Coyotes General Manager Don Maloney has issued the following statement regarding Coyotes forward Raffi Torres’ 25 game suspension that was announced today by the National Hockey League.

“I want to thank Brendan Shanahan and his staff for their thorough review of this incident," said Maloney. “The ruling is very severe for Raffi and our Hockey Club. Raffi plays a hard, physical game yet this contact crossed the line on what is acceptable in our game today. We hope Marian Hossa makes a full and speedy recovery as we all enjoy watching him perform. The Club accepts the NHL's decision and will focus on our game tonight.”

Phoenix Coyotes forward Raffi Torres issued the following statement today:

“My main concern is for the healthy recovery of Marian Hossa, and I hope that he will be able to get back on the ice to compete again soon. I sincerely regret injuring Marian.

Regarding the severity of the suspension issued, I will take the next few days to decide whether or not to appeal the decision.”

[Mike Tython]

Yowza. Shanny not messing around here.

[ScottRasner]

Absolutely pathetic.

[Active Stick]

Wow. I'm a Hawks fan and hate Torres as much as anyone but even I said "Holy f*cking sh*t" when I read that.

[canuck2]

What a fukin joke.

NHL is a disgrace.

[2,5,10GameMatch]

PATHETIC X's2!! Shanahan is a joke, If I had a quarter for everytime he flew into someone like that in his career..............hypocrite, ass kissing douchebag from Mimico.

[chilly666]

as much as i hate torres and thought the hit was dirty, i never thought it was worth 25 games...

message sending at it's best

[thruby]

jesus christ. 25 ****ing games?!

[ryan whl fan]

Good god that's ridiculous

[bruiser11]

That's over the top and I don't even like Torres.

[Gage55]

I'm actually disgusted.

[RCSheppy]

I don't even think Happy Gilmore got 25 games when he took off his skate and tried to stab somebody - Holy crap!

[Matt Doom]

Yeah, this is overkill.

[thruby]

is it 24 now, since he missed thursday night or does it start tonight?

[thepolishkid88]

Well I was wrong. I said 15 games, it was a bad hit but nothing like things Cooke did. To put this in perspective this is more than Matt Cooke got and actually is quite suprising. Torres doesn't have Cooke's rap sheet.

This shows you the NHL has absolutley no idea what they are doing. They just pick and choose and spin a ****ing wheel to decide their fate. They could make a great TV show out of this, better than the game we love at least.