The nature of some people seemingly knows no low it can’t sink to.
That especially appears to apply when that matter involves the Bruins-Montreal Canadiens rivarly.
First, Boston captain Zdeno Chara’s hit on Montreal forward Max Pacioretty and the subsequent decision by the NHL to not suspend the defenseman turned a great percentage of Habs fans into an angry mob with pitchforks and torches looking to exact revenge on Chara.
Now after Pacioretty received a positive prognosis for his future return to hockey action after suffering a non-displaced fractured vertebrae and severe concussion, it seems the lowest of the low in the Bruins’ fan base are questioning the the actual nature of the initial injury in terms unprintable on this blog.
This is ludicrous, and must stop.
Pacioretty suffered his injury March 8 and today Montreal head coach Jacques Martin said that doctors will allow Pacioretty to begin training with contact in three to five weeks. When you figure he’ll need at least a week or two of contact before he can play in a game — if all goes well — that would probably line up Pacioretty for a second-round playoff return.
Well, gee, what player who suffered a Grade 2 concussion (by the old three-grade measuring standard) right around the same time last year, was given a bleak initial prognosis and then triumphantly returned for the Bruins’ Game 1 win over Philadelphia in the second round? One guess: it rhymes with Dark Havard.
The differences in the grading systems make it impossible to compare the two concussions without a medical degree. But when you factor in that Pacioretty might have suffered the least severe of severe concussions, plus factor in his age and his body’s recovery ability — an element unique to each and every individual — the only reason Pacioretty’s career outlook is rosier now than a week ago is because he’s fortunate. And no one knows what the future holds once he begins rigorous physical activity. If any group of people knows how unpredictable these head injuries can be, it’s Bruins fans, who are left to dream what their team would look like right now with Marc Savard in the lineup and at full strength.
That Pacioretty might be able to make a fully healthy return to NHL action before this season ends rather than next season should be news celebrated by all fans and people inside the game. Any other reaction is just disgusting.
1st hopefully Max P fully recovers and returns sooner then later.
Can someone show me where Chara actually hit him with his elbow? I seen Chara taking him to the boards with an outstretched arm. Also Max had a step (or 1/2 step) on Chara, so how can he drive him into the stantion(sp?) with his elbow. I agree that its interference as he did have a step on him.
Matt wasn’t kidding when he called you guys the lowest common denominator.
Try to pretend for a second that good news for Max Pacioretty doesn’t make you angry. Try to pretend for a second that you understand people don’t necessarily recover at the same pace.
The kid is not back on the ice yet and concussions have a way of lingering. Ask Sydney, ask Mark…
Plus who knows, maybe in his first shift against the Bruins, Marchand might land his new signature Matt Cooke surprise on him.
Shame on all of you for saying your thoughts and prayers were with the kid and then crying foul when the prognosis is good.
Yawn. Can we move on please? Seriously, are we really still reading/talking about this?
He’s a 22 year old kid who is lucky he wasn’t permanently injured. We should all be grateful for that.
GR – my apologies, I read wrong.
Ryan – I agree, Montrealers calling 911 was a little much but it speaks to the passion of this city. Nothing will come of it – nothing SHOULD come of it – but when looking at the still photos, and the hit itself, it is widely believed (not just by fans but by media covering hockey) that there was an egregious error on the part of the NHL for not sanctioning Chara further.
For the record – I believe Habs fans who call for blood and revenge are just as bad as Bruins fans sneering at our loss or accusing the Canadiens of playing up a so-called non-existent injury. It’s a GAME, folks, entertainment. No need to get nasty or personal (or to call people trolls). The severity of the injury was not known in the long moments after Max hit the stanchion…many in the arena – including his teammates – feared he was dead, it was that hard a hit. When a 6’9″, 255-pound player targets ANY player for a hit, that hit will be injurious. When he raises his elbow to direct his target’s head, he shows intent – or, at the very least, an illegal move.
But many thought the result of the hit should have counted for sanctions, yet the incestuous disciplinary committee, in a rushed phone-in “hearing”, felt otherwise about this Boston player. Even one game would have sent a message.
All in all, this blog shows me there are many reasonable, fair-minded people in the hockey community, and thanks to Matt, we can share this with those who might feel otherwise.
Whether he comes back or not, i bet he thinks twice before letting Chara shove his head into a steel partition again! I’m sure he learned his lesson!
Lissa- I said I tweeted to MATT. As in Matt Kalman who runs this blog. Not to MAX Pacioretty.
In defense of Pacioretty-concussions are difficult things to diagnose and I can easily see an initial “severe” implication given the loss of conciousness.
It does actually sound like the concussion isn’t that bad comparative to some other concussions, but that is a better outcome than initially suspected. Honestly I would be very hesitant about having the guy return to play this year-I think for his health having him wait it out through the summer and return next fall would probably be the best and give everything a chance to heal.
I do think Montreal-the fans and media were ridiculous though. Calling 9-1-1 and demanding lifetime suspensions was over the line.
I’m pretty amazed that after Colin Campbell accusing Savard of being a huge faker that Bruin’s fans of turning around and laying that label on another player. Especially since Max Pacioretty has never claimed he had a bad concussion.
I supposes that speaks to the need for true impartiality with respect to NHL management.
As someone who has played all kinds of sports, someone who has spent all kinds of time in hospitals, I can personally tell you that every person reacts differently to any kind of injury! I broke my ankle in the summer and only thought it was a sprain… My ankle is in a new cast as we speak! Everyone heals and deals with pain in a different way!
Bone generally heals in 4-6 weeks… Concussions are different from person to person, and from time to time! You can get a severe cuncussion and be completely fine 2 days later as you can have a mild one after and have to spend 4 weeks in a dark room! Brain injuries are weird like that…
As for the hit on Pacioretty, the kid is a trooper. The incident was brutal no matter how you see it…
Hungus-
Big difference between what the Montreal fans/commenters were doing to Chara. Taking into account the NHL’s sensitivity to injuries I thought the hit warranted a game suspension because Z might’ve done more to not finish that check with that force at that spot with the puck gone. A lot different than saying Chara should die or be arrested.
MK
tru, your basically saying that an injured guy isn’t good when he is injured. So yeah, the Bruins are better of not playing injured players, brilliant analysis, but thet certainly missing having Savard at 100%.
let me get this straight, matt. you were one of the first guys to grab a pitchfork and condemn chara, but max gets the benefit of the doubt for faking a concussion? you fed the flames.
you want b fans to stop talking, start writing your blog in french.
How do you get rid of these ‘carried away’ trolls like “Ryan” and Lissa??
Ryan: he WAS all of that. he isn’t now. he did not help this team one bit this year (and very little last year). it’s the new (harsh) reality.
Lissa, I am personally still on the fence with regards to Chara being suspended or not, unfortunately one can only guess what he was thinking. That being said, there are flaws in your argument. Montreal did in fact blow things out of proportion. When people use an emergency telephone number, because a media outlet called for it, over a hockey game, that’s blowing something out of proportion.
As far as no one calling for Chara’s head on a stick and those rallying for violence not against players in hopes the NHL would listen, this is also untrue. If that was the actual case, there would not be an investigation into the player Chara over 1 hit, there would be an investigation into the NHL over the multiple violent hits.
Whether he comes back or not, he’ll probably think twice before shoving Chara in the back either way.
What I truly found amazing is that the Bruins fan base were against this kid and he is from New Canaan, CT, United States and I believe he grew up in the Boston area so he is one of their own.
I hope he is healthy, but why is he the next coming all of a sudden? The dude is no better than Michael Ryder on a good day….
GR90 – just stating, to the man who suffered the injury, that YOU thought it was blown out of proportion is insulting enough.
Peter – yeah, Max jumped into the pole. Didn’t you see that still photo? Chara’s elbow was NOWHERE near his head! That’s the kind of comment (yours) that makes your fanbase look small and petty. You’re a doctor, I presume? Who saw the patient after that hit?
The fact is, a promising, dedicated, talented player has been sidelined for at least 2 months because of a hit that most people (except many Boston fans – but not excluding the Boston faction) felt was a suspendable action. No one blew anything out of proportion. No one called for Chara’s head on a stick. We rallied FOR violence, not AGAINST players, and we spoke out in hopes the NHL would listen to reason and turn this almost-tragedy into a positive lesson. I am heartened by the tone of this article and its supportive nature (and for people like David and Tdas whose comments are sane and respectful!) but some of the comments continue to stoke the fire.
Sincere thanks for this, Matt.
from a Habs fan.
I disagree w/ you 100% tru. Since coming to the B’s in 2006, Savard is a 1pt+ per game player even with his issues. Show me anyone near that stat (Bergeron .74, Krejci .73, Sturm .64, Kessel .58, Ryder .55). Also, there is NO ONE better who can QB a power play and the proof is showing right now. We are in the bottom 10 in the league in PP Goals, PP Opportunities and PP %.
As far as the Montreal media, what did we expect. They were encouraging their fans to call 911, over a hockey game. I don’t care how little or how long it takes, I just hope Pac play’s again.
I believe the concussion was deemed severe because Max was knocked unconscious
The kid jumped head-first into the boards. Chara didn’t even touch him because if he had, the kid would be dead. It’s only natural to question this whole thing.
It sounded to me based on second hand information to be a moderate or mild concussion, after all, Bergeron and Savard were simply incapacitated for weeks after their “moderate” concussions.
There is also a big difference in saying that an injury has been overblown and being a jerk (I can think of many, many more colorful words I’d rather use here) about it are two entirely different things. Thank you Matt again for calling for sanity in the midst of mania!
You’re right Matt, the bottom line good news is that Max appears to be on his way to a full and speedy recovery.
The neck injury in and of itself is a horrible thing to have happened to this kid, and its great that he’s on course to overcome it.
That said, the concussion issue is a separate discussion. While the word “severe’” is certainly subjective, there were reports out of Montreal the night following the incident that Max wasn’t experiencing any ill symptoms relating to the concussion(admittedly hearsay at best). Which will inherently lead people to question how an injury diagnosed based on severity of symptoms could be so dire (prior to Chara’s hearing), and not be so bad mere hours later.
No one is wishing Paccioretty had a severe concussion, and the fact it was announced as severe is no fault of his own, but the circumstances certainly lead inquisitive minds to question what the diagnosis was based on if symptoms were never severe.
this team is much better without Savard. sorry, Marc, but you just are not durable enough to play. also, Savard’s number being lower than Michael Don’t-Call-Me-Mike Ryder on the +/- chart is indicative of his inability to benefit the team. Savard would be better off in another league. let’s hope Seguin understands those things.
I actually tweeted to Matt that I thought people blew the neck injury out of proportion… I wasn’t vulgar, but I hope he didn’t consider me part of this asinine crowd that is belittling the good news about Max Pac.
I think the biggest piece of news is that the concussion doesn’t seem as severe as initially thought. I’m hoping he doesn’t have to go through the post-concussion discomfort to the extent that Savard did when he returned for the Philly series last year. This, all in all, is a great thing to hear about.
Thanks for the sanity check. Not sure why this would be unbelievable to any, and a month to a month and a half for a non-displaced bone fracture to heal seems reasonable as well.
Glad the kid is going to return so soon.
If it was originally diagnosed as a “severe concussion” then it was diagnosed wrong because there’s no way Max could have come back so quickly. Shame on the Montreal media again.
Allot of Bruins are responding to the “Sycophant” dance the Habs media and fans have been doing since the hit. So now Bruins have reason to bark at the mis- diagnose (sp?) of the severity not that they doubt the Fracture of the vertebrae. Bruins fans are coming to the defense of Chara and calling out the Hab media and fans for over reaction. The flat out lie about the severity of the concussion put more fuel on the fire shame on the mis-diagnose (sp?)!
Having ranted about that sore subject I’m glad Max Pac is back no matter what uniform he wears as long as he doesn’t have good luck against my Bruins in the Playoffs Peace!