Morning Links 4/18
- Recaps. [CSN] [Tribune] [Sun-Times] [Third Man In] [Hockeenight] [Fifth Feather]
- As I'm sure you've all seen, serial offender Raffi Torres illegally hit Marian Hossa in the head. This should not happen. Ever. [ESPN] [Sun-Times]
- Hossa left an area hospital last night able to stand on his own. There is no timetable for recovery. [CSN] [blackhawks.nhl.com]
- Coyotes concede that seeing Hossa rolled out on a stretcher was awful. [Tribune]
- The long and sordid history of Raffi Torres hits. [Globe&Mail]
- Q and the Captain are livid. [CSN] [Tribune] [ESPN]
- Verdi on the hate that's building fast this series. [blackhawks.nhl.com]
- Michael Frolik took advantage of his second chance. [Tribune]
- Three games for Andrew Shaw. Whatever. [MyFoxChicago]
- No respect from players and no real consistent discipline from Player Safety is going to create problems. [Globe&Mail]
- Mike Modano disapproves vocally. [The Spin]
- What about diving? [PD]
- Friedman's 30 Thoughts. Violence and viewership is rising. [CBC]
Directly after the internet exploded about the Torres hit, there started to be some response from self-styled hockey intelligentsia that amounted to "Clean hit. This is hockey. It's always been violent. If you're just getting that now you're an idiot." After restraining myself from throwing the old laptop out the window, I discussed this with a friend. What we came up with was that "hockey has always been violent" is not a proper or sufficient response to the opinion that hockey could stand to see a little less of this particular kind of violence, and it's definitely not an argument against taking steps to condemn or punish it. Get well soon, Marian Hossa.
