Now the politicians want to get involved, or at least pretend to, for election purposes:

slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/News/2011/03/09/17556736.html

Excellent hit to a guy who had it coming. There is a history there from previous games and Max will remember in the future not to poke the bees nest!

What?
Ummm, how or why did Max have his injury coming?
The only thing I know he did wrong was to be an offensive threat to the Bruins, especially come these playoffs.
(since the Habs do not yet have any other offensive threats)

Posted by daveclark on 3/10/2011 12:27:00 AM (view original):
Excellent hit to a guy who had it coming. There is a history there from previous games and Max will remember in the future not to poke the bees nest!

Saying that ANYONE had a fractured vertebrae coming is disgusting. You're an idiot.

And it wasn't a hit.
It was a turnbuckle.

Posted by daveclark on 3/10/2011 12:27:00 AM (view original):
Excellent hit to a guy who had it coming. There is a history there from previous games and Max will remember in the future not to poke the bees nest!

yeah the bees have been whining about that little shove 4 awhile....but the bruins r so tuff...and dont whine....please

A COMPLETELY FAIR COMPARISON WOULD BE:
So a Bertuzzi example would be if a teammate of Max's would knock Chara out even worse than Max was knocked out by Chara. (since Moore had knocked out Naslund)

1. The hit gets done 10 times a game every game, but this time there was a big honking chunk of metal there.

2. The hit never used to be done 10 times a game every game; it used to be called "boarding". You know, indicating that at one time, the boards were not to be used as a device to send someone into next week, rather it was where the ends of the arena happened to occur. Just like there used to be a penalty called "charging", but now it's ok to start from behind your own net and build up enough speed to start a collision that has the same impact as most car crashes.

3. This hand wringing would almost stop completely if boarding and charging were called as often as it used to be called in the 70's and earlier.

4. The NHL will not enforce it until someone gets killed, and then all of the sudden someone says "lawsuit". Witness; netting above the glass to protect the crowds. Book it.

Anyone; how many hip checks do you see anymore?
When someone actually does one, it makes plays of the week now.

again,

it was not a hit

chara changed his mind before he hit max and instead shoved and twisted his face into that metal

Bullshit. I've seen it 5 ways to Sunday and that's a complete homer Montreal Canadiens view.

It gets done 10 times a game, every game.

This time, a 260 lb 6-9 giant did it and instead of boards or glass, it was metal. This should have been addressed years ago. It's not a huge mystery.

Do you want me to start listing off the players who's careers ended with that same hit with less fanfare (and less SportsCentre airtime)?

Maybe this time something will be done. Doubt it. Because he's still alive and it was "a hockey play".

i have seen it more often than 5 times
it was not a hit

10 times a game winnie. You probably see it so often you don't even know you are seeing it.

Do me a favour, if you can drop the homerism long enough to do it; next time you watch a game, any game, count the number of times when that someone gets hit into the boards with enough velocity that if it were a metal post instead of board, major damage might be done.

10. times. a. game. Easy.

Now, wander over to NHL network or Classic Canada and watch a full game from the 60's or 70s. Hell, even better...watch a playoff game, where the intensity is ramped up. Hell...watch that roving band of idiots called the Philadelphia Flyers.

You won't see it. You won't. I sat down a couple of weeks ago and watched game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals from 1974, and anytime anyone got near the boards with the puck, they were angled out, or manhandled with a glove to the face...but nothing like what is ok today.

Granted, it was also ok to empty out the benches and punch someone until they were a bloody pulp, however I digress.

There has been 25 years of gradual erosion of the rules until we have arrived at this point. Was the hit unacceptable? Yes, by the rulebook definition and the way it was called up until the mid 80's. Was it uncommon? Only in the sense of the 1 in 100000 luck of what and where he hit and the damage done.

Blame the game. This day was coming for a long time, and it has arrived.

Chara did not hit Max.
He was guiding Max into the boards, with a high velocity, then shoved his face into the metal.
For added injury to the insult, he twisted it as well.