Zdeno Chara Receives No Punishment For the Hit That Left Max Pacioretty With a Fractured Vertebra and Concussion

“After a thorough review of the video I can find no basis to impose supplemental discipline,” said Mike Murphy, the NHL’s Senior V.P of hockey operations, in a statement.

“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.”

While the end result of a horrible injury wasn’t Chara’s intent, this should open up another debate about hitting near the benches to go along with recent fighting and concussion controversies. Something similar happened to Ryan Smyth just over two years ago.

Its scary, but what can hockey do? You can’t very well outlaw checking on one side of the ice. And the rink needs to be set up like that so that players can get on and off the ice for shifts. Its just something that the players themselves have to be conscious of. The question is, how does

[Centre Daily Times, CBS Sports, Image via Getty]