BOSTON -- Zdeno Chara will play against the Sabres tomorrow night. The Boston Bruins defenseman did not get a suspension or a fine for his hit on Montreal's Max Pacioretty Tuesday in the Bell Centre. The Canadiens announced today that Pacioretty has a concussion and a fractured vertebrae. Scary stuff.
Seventy-four percent of you in our poll earlier today said Chara deserved at least a one-game ban. The league apparently did not agree. Tomorrow should be interesting. Chara and the Sabres aren't on the best of terms.
ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun has tweeted the statement of NHL arbiter Mike Murphy in this case. In part, Murphy said, "I could not find any evidence to suggest that, beyond this being a correct call for interference, that Chara targeted the head of his opponent, left his feet or delivered the check in any other manner that could be deemed to be dangerous. This was a hockey play that resulted in an injury because of the player colliding with the stanchion and then the ice surface."
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
