Stop us if you’ve heard this before. Raffi Torres threw a nasty, illegal hit which will likely earn him another suspension.
Last night in a preseason game against Anaheim, Torres was given a match penalty for charging at Jakob Silverberg and hitting him in the side of the head, which knocked the young Swede out of the game.
It’s a reckless, stupid hit – something Torres is no stranger to.
Torres, who missed the entire 2014-15 season with an ACL injury, has piled up suspensions since joining the league.
Since 2011, Torres has been suspended a handful of times. His most notable one is, getting a 25-game ban (reduced to 21) for a vicious hit on Chicago Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa, which landed Hossa in a stretcher and gave him a concussion. You’d think Torres would learn from that incident, but during the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs, he delivered yet another illegal hit to the head, this time to Jarret Stoll. Torres was suspended for the rest of the 2013 playoffs for the hit.
TSN’s Bob McKenzie tweeted Torres is technically not a reoffender, but that his length of fines/suspensions will factor into a future suspension.
How many times can Torres deliver these type of hits and comeback after a suspension like nothing’s happened? This guy’s is running around, seriously hurting people. Should the NHL ever suspended anybody for running around like an idiot, this guy’s first in line. It’s clear his 21-game suspension has taught him nothing, so perhaps a more lenient suspension to send a message, which has to be double digits at the minimum, would be appropriate. It’s time for the league to send a message. Otherwise, Torres is going to end someone’s career, when he probably shouldn’t be on the ice to begin with.
